May 11, 2017
Robert Fanuzzi, Ph.D., Associate Provost & Director of Civic Engagement at St. John’s Staten Island campus, was crowned “King” last night along with other business and community leaders at the annual Kings of Staten Island gala dinner presented by Schneps Publications at the Hilton Garden Inn. The event is the brainchild of Victoria Schneps, owner and publisher of Schneps Publications. NY1 television anchor Natalie Duddridge served as Master of Ceremonies for the evening.
Fanuzzi has helped connect St. John’s as a great global university with the ever changing and thriving borough of Staten Island. In tandem with the steady leadership of James O’Keefe, Vice Provost at St. John’s, the Staten Island campus has seen a significant rise in enrollment in recent years. Fanuzzi’s contributions have led to a strong academic curriculum and research projects that embrace the borough as a living laboratory for learning and an engine for careers.
“I am humbled by this honor, and by the recognition of St. John’s University’s vital contributions to a thriving and diverse city. I love to hear, ‘Staten Island is better off because St. John’s is here.’ To me, that means our Vincentian mission is more necessary and effective than ever,” said Fanuzzi.
A key partner in the borough’s non-profit development, public health, and the educational initiatives like “30000 Degrees: College Readiness for a Stronger Staten Island”, Fanuzzi has successfully brought together academic programs across the campus to engage students and faculty with its fast-changing Staten Island community and attract new students.
As recent recipient of a Humanities New York grant for “Sandy Ground at St. John’s,” Fanuzzi has also helped make St. John’s a civic hub for public programs that explore the diversity of Staten Island and ran an educational outreach initiative that brought deeper appreciation to the historic Sandy Ground community of Rossville, the oldest continuously inhabited free black settlement in the United States dating back to 1828.
St. John’s University congratulates Robert Fanuzzi for this outstanding recognition of his work.
For more information contact Dominic Scianna, Associate Vice President for External Relations at St. John’s University by calling 718.990.6185 or e-mail inquiries to [email protected].
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