BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE GALA HONORS PROMINENT BUSINESS EXECUTIVES INSTRUMENTAL IN HELPING SCHOOL THROUGH 9/11
April 26, 2005
Borough of Manhattan Community College’s Seventeenth Annual Gala will honor three individuals instrumental in securing corporate support for the BMCC’s recovery after the destruction of September 11, 2001. The Gala, which benefits the College’s Scholarship Fund, will be held on Tuesday, May 3 at Chelsea Pier, beginning at 6 p.m.
“The men and women we are honoring at the Gala have played an integral role in BMCC’s recovery from the World Trade Center tragedy,” said Dr. Antonio Pérez, BMCC President. “The renewed sense of vitality at the college is due, in great part, to the faith and commitment they have shown toward us over the last four years.”
The Gala, chaired by BMCC Foundation Board members Elizabeth Butson and Robert Mueller, will feature a silent auction of over forty items, including sports memorabilia autographed by some of today’s most illustrious personalities, such as Derek Jeter, Shaquille O’Neal, and Tiger Woods. The evening’s goal is to raise $1 million. To date, the college has received over $750,000.
The evening’s honorees are:
Eddy Bayardelle, First Vice President of Global Philanthropy at Merrill Lynch & Co., where he manages $40 million in annual contributions and directs the firm’s philanthropic initiatives worldwide. The former Chief Operating Officer of the United States Committee for UNICEF, Mr. Bayaredella has held numerous leadership positions in education, including service as Superintendent for the Hempstead Public Schools, and as Associate Dean for Planning and Development at the Graduate School of Bank Street College of Education. Mr. Bayerdell grew up in Haiti and Africa, and credits the community college he first attended as providing him with the solid foundation he needed to attain a college degree. He holds a Ph.D. in Education from New York University.
Gerry Higgins, is a Senior Vice President of Verizon Information Processing Services. He previously served as Vice President of Information Processing at Bell Atlantic and NYNEX, where he designed and implemented over 40 NYNEX work centers and led the successful implementation of an industry-leading disaster recovery strategy. Mr. Higgins has worked at many of the leading financial companies in New York. He began his career in 1967 as a Systems Engineer at IBM. A member of the BMCC Foundation Board, Mr. Higgins is also a member of the Health Sciences Advisory Board of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and is active in several “organ donation awareness” organizations, among them TRIO (Transplant Recipients International Organization).
Frederick Hill is the Executive Vice President of Marketing and Communications at JP Morgan Chase, where he is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, its senior policy making group. Mr. Hill was previously the Senior Vice President for Communications and Community Relations at McDonnell Douglass Corporation, in which capacity he spearheaded an award-winning marketing campaign and served as a member of the transition team after the company merged with Boeing. Before beginning his business career, Mr. Hill practiced law in Pittsburgh, taught at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was repeatedly recognized with awards for “Teaching Excellence,” and served as a Pennsylvania State Policeman.
Borough of Manhattan Community College, founded in 1963, is the largest community college in the City University of New York and the only community college in Manhattan. The U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of International Education ranks BMCC as being #1 in awarding degrees to African-Americans in the Northeast; #2 for awarding associate degrees in business; and # 3 for awarding associate degrees in communications technology. The College enrolls over 19,000 students who are representative of the ethnic and cultural diversity of New York City. Respected nationally for its rigorous academic standards and the caliber of its graduates, BMCC takes pride in such innovative academic programs as multimedia programming and design, funded by grants from Microsoft and the National Science Foundation. Visit the College Web site at www.bmcc.cuny.edu