Awards ceremony honors Rider's best and brightest

Rider honored its best and brightest faculty, administration and staff during the annual awards ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 13. As it does every year, the University recognized individuals who have shown extraordinary dedication, maintained high standards of excellence and illustrated a deep commitment to the students and to the mission of the University.

"In one way or another, each has demonstrated an abiding passion for the work they do," said Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs DonnaJean Fredeen. "In turn, that commitment improves the lives of those they come in contact with every single day."

Some of the award winners were previously recognized at other events throughout the year.

The Nancy Gray Award (named in honor of Rider's former vice president of development) is bestowed upon a member of the Rider University faculty, staff or administration who best exemplifies the ideals of institutional leadership, school pride and community service. The award went to Nicholas Barbati '07, '12, assistant director of student activities for campus & community engagement. This award is bestowed on an individual who emulates inspirational leadership.

Barbati, who has been at Rider for 10 years, consistently produces at an extremely high level and well exceeds his day-to-day job expectations. In his role, he has increased the amount of weekend programming provided by Student Activities, Emerging Leaders and the Student Entertainment Council, including an emphasis on signature programs during each weekend in the past several years.

Previously, Barbati was recognized for his efforts and excellence in student activities programming and campus event planning by being awarded the "2014 Campus Event Planner of the Year" by College Power Performers and Superior Programming Magazine.

The Ziegler-Gee Award, which goes to a full- or part-time administrator or member of the staff or faculty who has contributed to the effort to end gender-based discrimination, went to Dr. Erica Ryan of Rider's history department. Ryan originally received the award in March.

The Mazzotti Awards in Women's Leadership, funded by alumna Joan Mazzotti '72 and her husband, Michael Kelly, was established to provide professional development opportunities to women faculty and staff of the Rider community. Donna Disbrow, associate director of Human Resources; Dr. Karen Gischlar of the Department of Graduate Education, Leadership and Counseling; and Cindy Threatt, associate vice president for student affairs, all received recognition and financial assistance to attend various workshops, webinars and programs that will further their professional growth and leadership abilities.

The inaugural Faculty Academic Advising Award was created to recognize outstanding advising qualities and vision to provide students with accessible, timely and accurate information; to guide and encourage students; and to maximize their educational experience. It was given in July to Dr. Tamara Musumeci-Szabo from the psychology department.

Charlie Inverso was honored with the Coach of the Year award. When he took over the men's soccer program in 2011, the team was ranked 196 out of 203 Division I programs. Earlier this year, the team was ranked as high as 20th. Last fall, Inverso led the men's soccer team to its second most wins ever and the first MAAC Championship in 20 years. 

The two recipients of the Distinguished Teaching Award were Dr. John Donovan, management, and Dr. Catrinel Haught Tromp, psychology. Both exemplify the award's criteria of providing positive influences on the academic career of students, "great knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject matter, ability to engage students in course materials, availability for mentoring and support outside of the classroom and skill at providing interesting challenges to students."

Fredeen named the recipient of the Dominck A. Iorio Award, given annually to an individual whose research has been acknowledged by external authorities as providing meaningful contributions to the discipline. Dr. Anthony Bahri, who has been a member of the Mathematics Department since 1983, focuses his research on toric topology, a relatively new field that uses algebra and combinatorics to analyze the often counterintuitive way that shapes in multiple dimensions can be formed and deformed.

The Frank N. Elliot Award for Distinguished Service, named in honor of Rider's fourth president, is presented each year to a staff person, faculty member and administrator who has demonstrated distinguished service to the University. Nominations are submitted by the campus community, and a committee of past award recipients reviews the nominations and selects the honorees. Each recipient receives a framed certificate and a monetary award and is recognized with a plaque displayed in the lobby of the Bart Luedeke Center.

The first Frank N. Elliot Award for staff was given to Laura Luck, administrative specialist in the School of Fine and Performing Arts. Luck “knows more students by name than any other faculty member," said  Dr. Kim Vaccaro. "She remains friends with students long after they leave Rider and is frequently asked for advice from all of us: faculty, students, staff and chairs.” 

The faculty recipient of the Frank N. Elliot Award for Distinguished Service went to Dr. Jerry Rife from the School of Fine and Performing Arts. Rife joined the Rider University community as professor of music and chair of the Fine Arts Department in 1984. He served as chair of the department up until just this past August. For nearly 25 years, Rife has led the very popular Arts Abroad program with his close friend and colleague Pat Chmel. His colleagues say that there isn’t a time that Rife isn’t available to lend a helping hand, inside and outside of his discipline.

Dr. Alex Grushow, chairperson of the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, & Physics, was awarded The Chairperson Leadership Award. Dr. Pat Mosto, former dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, working with Don Stevens, former provost , established this award to highlight outstanding leadership of a department chairperson and to recognize responsible and professional management of the department and mentoring of departmental colleagues. The award also recognizes professional communication and advocacy of departmental needs and successes, collaborative work with colleagues and senior administration, and innovative leadership strategies. Grushow has served as the chair of the department for more than 10 years.

This year's administrator recipient of the Frank N. Elliot Award was presented to Dr. Marshall Onofrio, associate dean of administration for Westminster College of the Arts. Marshall joined Rider as associate dean of Westminster Choir College in July 2006 and became the founding associate dean for administration for Westminster College of the Arts in spring 2009. From January to June 2015, he served as interim dean of the Westminster College of the Arts.

Onofrio, who has more than 35 years of experience in higher education, is currently serving as chair of the Strategic Planning Ethics, Integrity and Compliance Working Group. Over the years, he has also been integral to the development and expansion of new academic programs in Lawrenceville and Princeton.