http://www.manhattan.edu/news/news_releases/112087_1.shtml
November 28, 2007
Manhattan College To Honor Frederic V. Salerno ’65, Retired Vice Chairman And Chief Financial Officer Of Verizon, At Annual De La Salle Medal Fundraiser
De La Salle Medal Dinner is the College’s key annual fund-raising event
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Manhattan College will present Frederic V. Salerno ’65, retired vice chairman and chief financial officer of Verizon, with the De La Salle Medal at the College’s annual fundraising dinner on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008.
The ceremony will be held at The Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.
A native New Yorker, 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.
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.
The De La Salle Medal Dinner remains the College’s top fundraising event. Proceeds from the $750-per-plate fundraiser are applied to academic and cocurricular programs, scholarship assistance and library resources. The black-tie event begins with a cocktail reception at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner and dancing at 7:30 p.m. For more information about the De La Salle Medal Dinner, please call Stephen L. White, director of development at Manhattan College, at (718) 862-7548 or e-mail stephen.white@manhattan.edu.
The De La Salle Medal was established in 1951 in honor of John Baptist de La Salle, founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and one of the world’s great educators. The Order founded Manhattan College in 1853. Since 1977, the De La Salle Medal has been conferred annually by the College’s board of trustees to honor executives who exemplify the principles of excellence and corporate leadership. Past recipients include New York Life Insurance Chief Executive Sy Sternberg, former Mayor of New York City Rudolph W. Giuliani ’65 and Con Edison Chairman Eugene R. McGrath ’63.
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