On March 26, 2020, the Fairfield Awards Dinner, Fairfield University’s flagship fundraising event for scholarship, will celebrate inclusive excellence at the Grand Hyatt in New York City.
Media Contact: Nicole Funaro, nicole.funaro@fairfield.edu, 203-254-4000 x3498
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (November 26, 2019) — Fairfield University is pleased to announce its honorees for the 32nd Fairfield Awards Dinner, an annual gala commemorating the University’s dedication to the Ignatian mission of service through the transformative gift of education.
Since 1988, this event has been a true celebration of Fairfield and has raised over $19 million for the Alumni Multicultural Scholarship Fund and other endowed scholarships at Fairfield. Continuing to recognize professional achievement, outstanding leadership, and volunteer commitment to Fairfield, this year’s Fairfield Awards Dinner will honor:
Clinton A. Lewis, Jr. ’88
Executive Vice President and Group President, International Operations, Commercial Development, Global Genetics, Aquatic Health and Human Medical Diagnostics at Zoetis: Alumni Professional Achievement Award
As executive vice president and group president responsible for International Operations, Commercial Development and Lifecycle Innovation, Global Genetics, Aquatic Health and Human Medical Diagnostics, Lewis is responsible for all markets outside the United States for Zoetis, a global animal health company that delivers quality medicines, vaccines and diagnostic products. Lewis also oversees the company’s global commercial development and new product strategy. Lewis has earned several distinctions throughout his career, recognized by Black Enterprise Magazine as one of its 300 Most Powerful Executives, and by Savoy magazines one of its Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America.
Bart Franey’ 67
Retired Co-Founder and Principal at Wellness Environments, Inc., President of Friends of Fairfield Rugby: Alumni Service Award
Franey retired in 2015 as co-founder and principal of Wellness Environments, which manufactures and installs clinical spaces for new hospital construction or renovations. He is also a founding member of CHER, the Coalition of Health Environments Research, whose mission is to promote, fund, and disseminate peer reviewed research contributing to effective and improved healthcare facility environments. Franey graduated with degrees in business and psychology from Fairfield, where he was involved in rugby from the early beginnings of the University’s rugby club, holding the role of president for the 1966 and '67 seasons. He is currently president of Friends of Fairfield Rugby, working to raise funds to support the men’s and women’s rugby teams as well as the Ciacci-Pascale Scholarship Fund, which provides financial aid for rugby student-athletes.
Paul F. Lakeland, PhD
Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J. Chair in Catholic Studies & Professor of Religious Studies: Distinguished Faculty/Administrator Award
Teaching at Fairfield for the past 38 years and now the Aloysius P. Kelley S.J. Professor of Catholic Studies, Lakeland has served as chair of the department of religious studies, director of the university honors program, and for the past fifteen years, director of Fairfield’s Center for Catholic Studies. He is also the author of 10 books and the editor or co-editor of two more, as well as a member of the American Academy of Religion, The American Theological Society, the College Theology Society, and the Catholic Theological Society of America (of which he was president in 2018-2019).
Claire and Woody Knopf, P’16
Chair of the Monmouth Medical Center Foundation Board and former Chairman and current consultant of Knopf Automotive (respectively): Parent Leadership Award
Claire Knopf currently serves as Chair of the Monmouth Medical Center Foundation Board and Co-Chair of The Women's Council for the Leon Hess Cancer Center Council at Monmouth Medical Center and is a past Community Vice President of the Junior League of Monmouth County in New Jersey. She has been a member of Fairfield University’s Board of Trustees since 2016, having served on the Infrastructure and Student Life committees. Woody Knopf is the former Chairman and current consultant of Knopf Automotive in Red Bank, New Jersey. Founded by Woody’s father in 1945, the company is the oldest core supply network in the world. Additionally, Woody serves on the Board of Trustees of Monmouth Medical Center. He also served on the Transportation Transition Team for New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and was appointed Commissioner on the New Jersey Sports Authority in June 2019.
Fairfield Awards Dinner Co-Chairs
Serving as this year’s co-chairs are Patricia E. Glassford ’85 and Adrienne A. Johnson ’91. Glassford, a returning Fairfield Awards Dinner co-chair and member of the University’s Board of Trustees, has worked with General Electric for over 30 years and retired as its Vice President and CFO. Johnson currently serves as the Managing Director and Chief Transformation Officer AXA Equitable, and the 2020 Fairfield Awards Dinner is the first of her two-year term as co-chair.
For additional information about the Fairfield Awards Dinner, please contact Fairfield University at 203-254-4000, ext. 2115, or visit fairfield.edu/awardsdinner.
Posted On: November 26, 2019
Volume: 52 Number: 45
Fairfield University is a modern Jesuit Catholic university rooted in one of the world’s oldest intellectual and spiritual traditions. More than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from the U.S. and across the globe are pursuing degrees in the University’s five schools. Fairfield embraces a liberal humanistic approach to education, encouraging critical thinking, cultivating free and open inquiry, and fostering ethical and religious values. The University is located on a stunning 200-acre campus on the scenic Connecticut coast just an hour from New York City.