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NIAF CELEBRATES 32nd ANNIVERSARY WITH CONVENTION, GALA
Last weekend, NIAF members and supporters gathered in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the Foundation’s 32nd anniversary with its annual gala and convention weekend from October 12-13, 2007. To view photos of the weekend’s highlights, click here.
Be sure to mark your calendars for NIAF’s 33rd Anniversary Convention and Gala, planned for October 17-18, 2008 at the Hilton Washington & Towers. Keep an eye on NIAF’s Web site in the coming months for further details.
32nd Gala highlights Italian-American success stories, U.S. ties to Italy
On Saturday, October 13, approximately 3,000 guests packed the International Ballroom at the Hilton Washington & Towers for the highlight of the weekend’s festivities: NIAF’s 32nd Anniversary Awards Gala.
Presidential candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi each received NIAF Special Achievement Awards in Public Service, presented by former director of the FBI and NIAF General Counsel Louis J. Freeh and Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano respectively. NBC anchor Maria Bartiromo presided over the Saturday gala dinner, during which NIAF Chairman Dr. A. Kenneth Ciongoli introduced one of Italy’s highest ranking officials, Franco Danieli, Italy’s Deputy Foreign Minister.
 Honorees Martin Scorsese, Ellen Pompeo, Rudolph W. Giuliani, and Nancy Pelosi. Photo by Keith Jewell. |
Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese received the Jack Valenti Award from Mary Margaret Valenti, wife of the late movie industry icon and founding NIAF member. Scorsese launched the Jack Valenti Institute, which will fund internships for young Italian Americans pursuing film careers.
Other honorees included Ellen Pompeo, star of the ABC drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” who received a NIAF Special Achievement Award in Entertainment; CEO of AARP William D. Novelli, whose NIAF Special Achievement Award in Public Advocacy was presented by NIAF Board Member Patricia de Stacy Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; and Connie Stevens, actress, singer, and entrepreneur, who received a NIAF Special Achievement Award for Humanitarian Service presented by NIAF Vice Chairman Joseph R. Cerrell.
 Martin Scorsese speaks to guests at the NIAF Youth Gala. |
The evening included performances by Pavarotti protégé opera tenor Vittorio Grigolo and Italian-Australian singing sensation Alfio.
Meanwhile, in a ballroom nearby, NIAF’s 11th Annual Youth Gala attracted more than 300 young Italian Americans from 20 states - and honorees Scorsese and Pompeo, who spoke to the young guests about their heritage.
Foundation honors First Lady’s dedication to literacy, teacher’s creativity
Earlier on October 12 at NIAF’s education luncheon, Mrs. Laura Bush gave the keynote address and received the Foundation’s Special Achievement Award in Literacy in recognition of her efforts to help America’s youth.
The First Lady spoke about the many ways that Italian Americans have enriched communities across the nation and the love of learning shared by Italians and Americans. Ciongoli presented the award to Mrs. Bush.
Additionally, Peter LoJacono, an Italian teacher at Hutchinson Central Technical High School in Buffalo, N.Y., received the fifth annual Teacher of the Year Award at Saturday’s Council 2000/Youth Networking Breakfast. NIAF awarded more than $1.15 million in scholarships and cultural grants in 2007.
Secchia announces endowment for Voyage of Discovery
During the gala dinner, NIAF Board Members Ambassador Peter F. Secchia and Lee Rizzuto each pledged $1 million toward a $3 million goal to endow the NIAF Ambassador Peter F. Secchia Voyage of Discovery Program, which enables young Italian Americans to see Italy for the first time.
Each year, Voyage of Discovery participants spend 10 days visiting a different region of Italy. Many participants describe the program as a defining moment in their lives and an experience that inspired them to further connect with their heritage. Secchia and Rizzuto’s pledges ensure that NIAF will continue to provide this experience for generations to come.
For more coverage of the NIAF gala, click here.
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NIAF WORKS TO EXPAND ITALIAN EDUCATION
NIAF has collaborated with the New Jersey Italian and Italian American Heritage Commission (NJIIAHC) to distribute “The Universality of Italian Heritage Curriculum” —a 28-lesson plan for grades K-12. “The Universality of Italian Heritage Curriculum” was created by the Curriculum Development Committee of the NJIIAHC, in conjunction with the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE), and meets all DOE curriculum standards.
 The Universality of Italian Heritage Curriculum |
The NJIIHC is distributing the program throughout New Jersey and NIAF is distributing it nationwide. This project aims to demonstrate the presence and influence of Italian and Italian-American heritage and culture as an integral part of the development of American society.
Visit our Web site for more information about “The Universality of Italian Heritage Curriculum.”
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NIAF BRINGS TOGETHER ONLINE COMMUNITY
NIAF recently created ItalTalk, an online forum where students, job-seekers and the Foundation’s supporters can access information about job openings, scholarships, studies abroad, continuing education, and student/teacher exchanges in addition to Italian culture, employment and education.
Visit the NIAF online forum and register today to learn more.
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ITALIAN SCIENTIST WINS NOBEL PRIZE
Last week, the Nobel Prize Foundation announced that Dr. Mario Capecchi won the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 2007 for what the committee stated were “discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells."
 Mario R. Capecchi. |
Capecchi, whose research was conducted at the University of Utah Salt Lake City and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Maryland, was one of three awarded the honor. Capecchi’s research centered on altering the genetic makeup of mice by injecting DNA into a cell’s nucleus. Through his work, he sought ways to adapt the findings to mammalian cells.
Born in 1937 to an Italian aviator father and expatriate American poet, Capecchi emigrated from Italy in the late 1940s. TIME magazine describes Capecchi’s ascendance to scientific excellence as “a spiral staircase” story: “the starving, homeless Italian street kid who found his way to America, to Harvard, to Utah, ever the refugee before finally arriving at eternal glory and the Nobel Prize.”
(source: Web site)
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ITALIAN AMERICAN NAMED WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY
Last month, after White House spokesman Tony Snow abdicated his role, Dana Perino was promoted as the new face of the administration. The president made the announcement at conference to reporters and referred to Perino as "a smart, capable person who is able to spell out the issues of the day in a way that people listening on TV can understand."
Perino, 35, is a graduate of the University of Southern Colorado (now Colorado State University-Pueblo).
(Source: Web site)
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INSIDE ITALY
Italian lawyer Antonio Baldassarre is leading discussions with German airline Lufthansa on its potential bid for Italian airline Alitalia. According to one account, “Baldassarre's group and Lufthansa [are] among six groups including rivals Air France and Aeroflot that Alitalia has identified as potential buyers.”
Alitalia plans to choose a suitor by mid-November, but whether the Italian Treasury will relinquish its 49.9 percent stake in Alitalia to bidders is unknown. The airline has been seeking a new partner since prior negotiations went unsuccessful earlier this year.
(Source: view Web site)
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NIAF e-Newsletter compiled and edited by Monica Soladay, Editor, and Jeffrey DiNunzio, e-Newsletter Coordinator.
enews@niaf.org
For the latest NIAF news and in-depth details of all the Foundation offers, be sure to visit our Web site: www.niaf.org
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