Iona University will honor distinguished alumni and community leaders at its annual Trustees Scholarship Award Gala on Friday, April 21. The event will take place at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City and proceeds from the gala will support student scholarships.
This year”™s honorees include business and community leaders who have contributed to the success of Iona University in various ways over the years. The Iona Legacy Award will be presented to Jerome C. Cifarelli ”™77, ANC Sports Enterprises chairman and founder; and Daniel F. Doyle ”™93, ”™95MBA, an accomplished executive in the fintech and credit card industry.
The V Foundation for Cancer Research, founded by ESPN broadcaster and legendary Iona basketball coach Jim Valvano, and the Valvano Family will be recognized with the Blessed Edmund Rice Humanitarian Award. The award recognizes those who, by their activities and service to others, have reinforced Iona”™s identity as a university founded in the tradition of the Christian Brothers and American Catholic higher education. It is named after Blessed Edmund Rice, founder of the Christian Brothers.
Cifarelli has spent more than 40 years in marketing and advertising sales, including 30 years in the sports marketing industry.
A true visionary, he became intrigued by the potential of rotational signage emerging in the sports industry and in 1991, he helped establish the Madrid-based signage company, Dorna, in the United States. He rose to become president and CEO of Dorna USA and played a prominent role in the adoption of digital signage in sports, notably placing rotational signage on the majority of National Basketball Association courts and introducing the concept to Major League Baseball.
After successfully steering the sale of Dorna USA, Jerry founded ANC Sports in partnership with well-known former sports executives, including Alan N. Cohen. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing from Iona University.
Doyle ”™93,”™95 MBA is an accomplished executive with over 25 years in the fintech and credit card industry. He was principal and president of CardWorks Acquiring since May 2008 before exiting in February 2022 to become part of Blackstone”™s Fintech (Tactical Opportunities) Portfolio Company.
Previously, he was an executive at American Express for almost 11 years. Doyle holds a Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Iona University.
For more, to purchase tickets, e-journal ads and other sponsorship opportunities, visit the scholarship gala site.
Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master”™s-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers on a 45-acre New Rochelle campus.
The Princeton Review recognized Iona”™s on-campus MBA program as a “Best Business School for 2023.” On July 1, 2022, Iona officially changed its status from college to university, reflecting the growth of its academic programs and the prestige of an Iona education.
