February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Twelve members of the Irish community are among this year’s recipients of the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
The medals are awarded by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations, which serves as an umbrella group for 451 ethnic organizations representing five million family members and whose mandate is to preserve ethnic diversity, promote ethnic and religious equality, tolerance and harmony, and combat injustice, hatred and bigotry.
This year’s recipients will receive their awards at the annual gala ceremony in the Great Hall on Ellis Island in New York Harbor on Saturday, May 6, said NECO Chairman William Denis Fugazy.
The members of the Irish community are actor Hugh O’Brien, founder and chairman of Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership; Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes; Walter E. Dunn, Jr., second vice president, New York State United Teachers; Joseph P. Dunne, chief of department, New York City Police Department; John D. Feerick, dean, Fordham Law School; John E. Gallagher, Sr., chairman and CEO, Arrow International Inc.; Laurance William Gay, president, Business Strategies and Insight; Robert Charles Golden, executive vice president, The Prudential; Henry J. Humphreys, chairman board of trustees, Cardinal Cooke Health Care; William H. Joyce, chairman, president, and CEO, Union Carbide Corporation; T. Timothy Ryan, Jr., managing director, J.P. Morgan and Co., Inc.; and Thomas C. Sullivan, chairman and CEO, RPM, Inc.