The Dinner, which began in 1977, is named for St. John Baptist de La Salle, the 17th Century French educator who established the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, also known as the Christian Brothers or, De La Salle Brothers. It was the Brothers who founded Manhattan College in 1853. Since the Dinner's inception, the De La Salle Medal has been
conferred annually at this event to honor corporations and/or executives who exemplify the principles of excellence in corporate leadership
and service to society.
The De La Salle Medal Dinner remains the College's top fundraising event. Proceeds provide discretionary funds for the College, a critical factor in
these challenging times. Funds generated by the Dinner are applied to a wide variety of needs, particularly our academic and co-curricular programs, scholarship assistance, upgrading of facilities and equipment,
and library resources.
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A native New Yorker, Frederic Salerno joined New York Telephone in 1965 and was elected vice president in 1983, when he directed the divestiture of the company from the Bell System. He was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer of New England Telephone in 1985. Two years later, Salerno became president and chief executive officer of New York Telephone.
In 1991, Salerno was appointed vice chairman of NYNEX, a position he held until the 1997 Bell Atlantic merger, which added chief financial officer to his title. When the Bell Atlantic/GTE merger formed Verizon, he was named vice chairman and chief financial officer of the new company. He remained in this position until his retirement in September 2002.
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During his 37 years in the telecommunications industry, Salerno served as a lead negotiator in three of the most significant mergers in business history: the 1997 merger of Bell Atlantic and NYNEX; Bell Atlantic's merger with GTE; and the union of the U.S. wireless assets of Bell Atlantic and Vodafone to make the country's largest wireless provider, Verizon Wireless. He also directed Bell Atlantic's successful efforts to realize the annual expense savings, capital efficiencies and revenue gains from the merger with NYNEX.
Salerno is a member of the corporate boards of Akamai Technologies, Bear Stearns, CBS Corporation, Popular, Inc. and Viacom. He serves as lead director for IntercontinentalExchange; senior advisor to Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and New Mountain Capital, LLC; and chairman of Gabelli Group Capital Partners. He is a former director of KeySpan; Orange & Rockland Utilities; Orion Power Holdings; Avnet, Inc.; Heidrick & Struggles; Dun & Bradstreet; and Consolidated Edison.
An active participant in community and educational issues, Salerno is a current member of the Futures in Education Committee of the Diocese of Brooklyn and a member of the American Association of the Sovereign Military Order of the Knights of Malta. He is the former president of the Inner-City Scholarship Fund and was appointed chairman by then-Gov. Mario Cuomo to New York's Temporary State Commission on the Distribution of State Aid to Local School Districts (1988) and the board of trustees of the State University of New York (1990-1996). Salerno also served as chairman of the Archdiocese of New York's Partnership for Quality Education Campaign. He is a former member of the board of trustees of Manhattan College, Xavier High School, New Visions for Public Schools and National Constitution Center.
He has received several distinctions, including the National Italian American Foundation's Special Achievement Award for Humanitarian Service in 1999. Also, Edward Cardinal Egan of the Archdiocese of New York knighted Salerno to the Order of St. Gregory the Great in 2006.
Salerno received a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Manhattan College in 1965 and a Master of Business Administration from Adelphi University in 1968. He and his wife, Patricia, have been married for 41 years and reside in Rye, N.Y. They have three children, Fred Jr., Laura and Amy, and four grandchildren. |
Dinner Co-Chairmen
Mario J. Gabelli
Chairman
Gabelli Funds
Eugene McGrath '63
Retired Chairman & CEO
Con Edison
Dinner Vice-Chairs
Patrick G. Boyle '75
Executive Vice President
New York Life Investment Management |
Richard L. Carrion
President, Chairman &
Chief Executive Officer
Popular, Inc.
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William N. Dooley '75
Senior Vice President,
Financial Services
American International Group |
Peter M. Mulderry '87
Managing Partner &
Chief Operating Officer
Savannah-Baltimore Capital Mgmt, LLC |
Michael J. Paliotta '87
Managing Director,
Investment Banking
Credit Suisse
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Kenneth A. Rathgeber '70
Executive Vice President, Risk Oversight & Chief Compliance Officer
Fidelity Funds, Fidelity Investments
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Paul Sagan
President &
Chief Executive Officer
Akamai Technologies |
Stephen Squeri '81
Executive Vice President &
Chief Information Officer
American Express |
Vincent Tese
Member, Board of Directors
Bear Stearns |
Journal Chair
John L. Paluszek '55
Senior Council
Ketchum |
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Levels of Participation
President's table of 10 - $50,000
Leadership table of 10 - $25,000
Patron table of 10 - $15,000
Sponsor table of 10 - $7,500
Individual ticket - $750
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For additional information about this gala event and how you or your company might participate, please call Stephen White, director of development, at (718) 862-7548 or e-mail stephen.white@manhattan.edu. |
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