Barnes & Noble Chairman Leonard Riggio to be Honored At Italian American Gala in Washington, DC.WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 8, 1998--Chairman, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. and Founder of Barnes & Noble Inc. Leonard Riggio will be honored October 17 in Washington, DC by the National Italian American Foundation The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) is an advocacy organization for Italian Americans, the fifth largest ethnic group in the United States of America. It is based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to preserve and protect Italian American heritage and culture. (NIAF NIAF National Italian American Foundation ) at an awards ceremony before an expected audience of over 3,000 prominent Italian Americans in business, entertainment, and government. Leonard S. Riggio will receive the 1998 NIAF Special Achievement Award for the Promotion of Literacy. The award will be conferred at the Washington Hilton Hotel during a Gala Awards Dinner that caps the NIAF's annual two-day convention (Oct. 16-17), the largest formal gathering of Italian Americans in the country. For the past 23 years, the NIAF awards dinner has been attended by the President of the United States The head of the Executive Branch, one of the three branches of the federal government. The U.S. Constitution sets relatively strict requirements about who may serve as president and for how long. . President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton have attended five NIAF galas and are also expected to attend. Popular Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will sing the American and Italian national anthems at the NIAF Gala Awards Dinner. This year's dinner is chaired by U.S. Congresswoman Mary Bono of California. Among the confirmed celebrities are Liza Minnelli; Susan Lucci; Connie Sellecca; Joan Collins; Quentin Tarantino; Joe Mantegna and other special guests to be announced To be announced (TBA) A contract for the purchase or sale of an MBS to be delivered at an agreed-upon future date but does not include a specified pool number and number of pools or precise amount to be delivered. shortly. Joining Riggio as this year's NIAF honorees are: actress Anjelica Huston; Los Angeles Dodgers "Dodgers" and "Brooklyn Dodgers" redirect here. For the American football team, see Brooklyn Dodgers (football). For the Eastern Basketball Association team, see Brooklyn Dodgers (basketball). Vice President Tommy Lasorda; noted author Gay Talese; children's rights advocate Barbara Sinatra; Countrywide Home Loans Inc. Chairman/CEO Angelo Mozilo; and VISA USA President Carl Pascarella. In 1965 at the age of 24, Riggio opened his first book store with $5,000 . In 1971, he bought Barnes & Noble, an ailing bookstore on New York's Fifth Avenue and turned it into the world's largest bookseller. Today, Barnes & Noble Inc. is the parent company of Barnes & Noble Bookstores, B. Dalton Bookstores and Doubleday Book Shops. Riggio is also the chairman and major stock holder of Barnes & Noble College Bookstores Inc., MBS See Mb/sec. MBS - mobile broadband services Textbook Exchange and Babbages Etc., a national chain of software stores. Barnes & Noble Inc. has over $4 billion in annual sales and more than 50,000 booksellers, operating nearly 1,000 retail bookstores in 49 states. The chain sells one in eight books in America. With $800 million in sales last year, Barnes & Noble College Bookstores serve well over 300 universities and colleges across America, including such major universities as Columbia and Harvard. Under his leadership, Riggio had coffee bars installed in his bookstores which has helped make them neighborhood social gathering places to promote reading for pleasure. Riggio is active in several philanthropic organizations and promotes literacy on many fronts. He serves on the boards of the Children's Defense Fund The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) is a national organization that is committed to the social Welfare of children. Founded in 1973, the nonprofit group uses its annual $9 million budget to lobby legislators and to speak out publicly on a broad array of issues on the law, the family, and ; Poets & Writers Inc., the largest U.S. non-profit organization for writers; and is vice chairman of The Fifth Avenue Association. He has received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor The Ellis Island Medal of Honor was established in 1986 to pay tribute to the immigrant experience and individual achievement, and are awarded to U.S. citizens from various ethnic backgrounds. , the Frederick Douglass Medallion, and an honorary degree from Baruch College, part of the City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY; acronym: IPA pronunciation: [kjuni]), is the public university system of New York City. . Riggio's ancestors came to America from Sicily and Naples. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York and now lives in Manhattan with his wife, Louise. The 1998 NIAF convention also will include a celebrity luncheon and auction, an Italian food seminar by the Culinary Institute of America, a conference on Italy's historic towns and Friday night entertainment. The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC and dedicated to preserving the heritage of Italian Americans. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion