Jack Palvino Communication/Journalism
Hall of Fame
The 1999-2000 academic year saw the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the founding of the C/J department. The year-long celebration included a special dinner and recognition ceremony on Friday, November 12, 1999. On that date, the department inaugurated the Jack Palvino Communication/Journalism Hall of Fame. Named for Jack Palvino, famous radio personality, station owner, College alumnus, trustee, and generous benefactor to the department and the students, the Hall of Fame recognized those who, in the tradition of Mr. Palvino support the academic mission of the Department by counseling students, providing internships and real-world experiences, and lending their expertise and credibility to enrich the lives of those who follow in their footsteps.
The 2007-2008 Inductees
Left to Right: Michael Ginestre, Ray Sullivan, Jack Palvino '55, Lisa Murphy.
Mike Ginestre previously worked as a professor at St. John Fisher College from 2000-2007. Ginestre started his career graduating from St. John Fisher College in 1994. During that time he participated in three administrative internships. In September of 1994 Ginestre was hired at Hutchins/ Young & Rubican in Rochester, NY. For three years he served as Assistant Account Executive then was promoted to Account Executive. After leaving the company Ginestre went on to work at C.H.E.N. Public Relations in Boston, MA as Account Executive for a year. In 1999 Ginestre came back to the Rochester area working for Buck & Pulleyn. While working there he worked with such companies as Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, SafeStone Technologies and Wal-Mart. Ginestre became an adjunct professor at SJFC in 2000, and took over in a full-time capacity in 2003. The public relations course sequence acquired some stability with Ginestre in charge, and more students flocked to his classes and declared a PR concentration. Under his guidance, the PR Club finally achieved status as a full-fledged chapter of PRSSA.
Ray Sullivan has worked at News 10NBC for over 22 years and holds the official title of Executive Producer. Sullivan previewed a successful professional career while he was a student at St. John Fisher College as a member of the Class of 1985. During his senior year he pursued an internship in the News 10NBC sports department. In November of '85 Sullivan was hired by Rich Funke as a weekend sports producer at Channel 10. Eventually he became the main sports producer and spent 16 years in the sports department. In 2001 he was moved into the News Department and became the 6 o'clock news producer for two years. Sullivan then became the I-Team (Investigative) Producer. In February 2006 he was promoted to Executive Producer of News 10NBC. In the fall of 2005, Sullivan collaborated with Dr. Seward and Dr. Vicker to create a program for student produced broadcasts of the Fisher Football games. The program began with radio broadcasts of a few home games that year and now, two years later, they have the capability to produce live, online broadcasts of home and away football games, men's and women's basketball games and this past basketball season they began Video Webcasts of the men's Empire 8 basketball games.
With over 25 years in the print industry, Lisa Murphy began her career at the Adirondack Daily Enterprise and Lake Placid News in Saranac Lake, NY. She worked in a variety of positions during the 1980 Winter Olympic Games handling national advertising, graphic design and sports photography. From there she became the Advertising Director and General Manager at Times Shamrock Communications. While with Times Shamrock Communications she served on the advisory board of the company for 16 years helping to guide the growth of the company from two daily newspapers and six radio stations to a mid-sized communication company comprised of over ten radio stations, five daily newspapers, seven weekly shoppers, and four alternative newspapers located in markets throughout the US. In 1989, Times Shamrock Communications promoted Lisa to division manager and publisher of their weekly newspaper division overseeing complete operations for seven weekly newspapers. After 19 years Lisa accepted a position at the Rome Sentinel in Rome, NY where she guided the paper in realigning the advertising department, electronically paginating the production and redesigning the interior facility. She was offered the opportunity to come to St. John Fisher to work with the newly redesigned Cardinal Courier. Under her advisorship, the Courier staff grew along with the stellar reputation of the paper. Students flocked to the Courier office to spend time with “Murph,” the wacky advisor who was known for wearing red sweat pants and advising students on their personal lives as well as the newspaper. After three years she moved to Medaille College where she has worked with students to redesign their student newspaper. Both The Cardinal Courier and the Medaille Perspective have been recognized statewide and nationally for excellence and students working at both publications have gone on to make wonderful contributions in the world of writing, print and design.
The 2004-2005 Inductees
Left to Right: Meaghan O'Connor '94, Stephen Dawe '90, Laura Jeanne Hammond, Jack Palvino '55, Carla Mancuso '96.
Meaghan O'Connor is a line producer for Connected: Coast-to-Coast with Ron Reagan and Monica Crowley at MSNBC. After graduating from Fisher with a degree in Communication/Journalism, she was an executive producer at WOKR-TV in Rochester, New York when the station received several awards: Best Newscast Award in 2001, 2000; Overall Excellence Award in 2000. NewsSource 13’s newscasts were also the recipient of the New York State Associated Press Awards for Best Newscast in 1997, 1999, 2000, and 2001.Meaghan got her start as a newsroom assistant at WHEC-TV in Rochester.
Stephen Dawe began his career at WHEC-TV10 as an Assistant Producer. He was promoted to Producer of Live at Five and then News10NBC at 6. Stephen moved to WUHF-TV31 to help start a weekly local news magazine program, and in 18 months as Executive Producer of FOX 31 Investigates, the program garnered two New York State Broadcasters Awards. In 1997, Steve was part of the team that started The Ten O'clock News. Presently, Steve is Promotions Director at 13-WHAM-TV, where he coordinates internal and external marketing efforts for the local ABC affiliate.
Laura Jeanne Hammond is editor in chief of Next Step Magazine, an international publication for students planning for life after high school. Beginning as an intern and continuing editing and freelancing through graduation at the University of Missouri-Columbia, she became editor in chief in 2001. Since then Next Step Magazine has won content awards from the Association of Educational Publishers and the Ontario School Counsellors’ Association.In her free time, Laura is co-founder and co-president, with her husband, of the Rochester-area 20-somethings (RATS), a social, networking and community service organization for 20 to 29-year-olds.
Carla Mancuso is a public relations manager at Dixon Schwabl Advertising. Her strong communications background and not-for-profit expertise has proven to be an excellent foundation for servicing the needs of a wide array of clients including Sentry Group, Hoselton, Unity Health System and Genesee Region Home Care. Carla was recently appointed president-elect for the Rochester chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and has been on the board of PRSA for three years. She also serves as an honorary board member of the Masonic Learning Center for Children and volunteers for the United Way of Greater Rochester.
The 2002-2003 Inductees
Left to Right: Jeff DiVeronica '91, Tom Proietti '67, John Turner '88, Roger Scalzo '91, Jack Palvino '55.
Tom Proietti, one of the founding members of the C/J department at Fisher, is a professor at Monroe Community College. Tom returned to Fisher as an adjunct in the spring of 2001, and he returns each year to teach Media Coverage, a course he developed. Tom has also encouraged many students at MCC to consider Fisher for their four-year degree, and he has been involved in a number of joint projects with the College.
John Turner has been a frequent visitor to classes and career panels at Fisher since his graduation. After serving as an adjunct for a year, in 2002, he took a sabbatical from his public relations career to teach the PR courses full-time at Fisher and to begin a student chapter of PRSSA. John continues to teach Media Ethics as an adjunct. He has also served as one of our most popular internship supervisors at Channel 13, Visiting Nurse Service, and most recently at Highland Hospital, where he is the Director of Public Relations.
Jeff DiVeronica is well-known in the Rochester community as the high school sports reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle. In that capacity, he works with a number of Fisher students who serve as outfielders in the department. He fills a special mentoring role with these students, taking the time to teach them and provide feedback on their work. Jeff is also a frequent visitor to C/J classes and provided the print journalism students advice and support as they worked to redesign the college newspaper.
Roger Scalzo is distinguished for his mentoring of the interns that come to RC Anderson Associates in Pittsford, where he serves as President and Editor. Roger is a unique internship supervisor in that he only uses Fisher interns. In addition, he takes considerable time and energy to mentor the entire student, providing them feedback on their writing skills, interviewing skills, time management skills, and many aspects of workplace behavior. He takes the time to work through these skills with the students, maximizing their career preparation and chances for success, and providing them with detailed and thorough feedback and references. In addition, Roger has been to campus on a number of occasions to serve on career panels and provide advice to Fisher students.
The 1999-2000 Inductees
Back row: Mike Duda '93 Kevin LeGrett '91; Front row: Jack Palvino '55, Gary Cuminale '66, Nancy Wise '82.
Gary Cuminale, Class of '66. Gary was the former director of the College Media Center and adjunct instructor/advisor. He was a friend to many. (Gary sadly passed away unexpectedly in December of 1999.)
Nancy Wise, Class of '82. Nancy is the Editorial Manager/Beyond the Cover for White Bridge Communications in Nashville, Tennessee. She was involved in the mentor program when she worked in Rochester and has continued her association with Fisher, helping students to get involved in the music industry
Kevin LeGrett, Class of '91. Kevin is the Vice-President of Operations for Infinity Broadcasting and the General Manager for 96 CMF and 98 PXY. He has been a frequent guest on campus for classes and career forums and has mentored and hired many Fisher students. (Kevin was the keynote speaker for C/J Career Day in March, 2000.)
Michael Duda, Class of '93. Mike is the Vice-President for new business at Deutsch Advertising, the 1999 Advertising Agency of the Year. He has mentored students and hosted student visits to New York City. He also offered a scholarship before the 25th anniversary celebration and gave a talk about his agency to a group of students.
