Alumni Awards 2024
Outstanding Alumni Award
Jamie Fazio '97
Jamie Fazio ‘97 has served as chaplain at Nazareth University for the past 22 years and as the Director of the Center for Spirituality since 2018. After graduating from Nazareth in 1997 with a major in philosophy and history, Jamie earned a Master’s in Systematic Theology and a Master of Divinity from St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry. As chaplain, Jamie has collaborated with his colleagues in the Center for Spirituality to foster spiritual growth and community engagement among students, faculty, and staff. With a deep commitment to promoting interfaith engagement and inclusivity, Jamie encourages the Nazareth community to explore diverse spiritual paths while nurturing their own faith traditions. He has prioritized keeping the legacy of the Sisters of St. Joseph alive within the campus community.
Over the past 23 years, Jamie is most proud of the various community engagement and advisement opportunities he has participated in. These include bringing 100 students to work in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, serving as an advisor to Lambda, and establishing a series of service retreats honoring Nazareth’s founders called Solidarity and Social Justice Retreats. These retreats have involved students working with the St. Francis Inn community in Philadelphia, organizing on the Mexican and U.S. border in El Paso and Juárez, participating in an annual Civil Rights Journey to Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and experiencing Germany and Poland to learn about the Holocaust. Jamie has also taught multiple sections of the Academic College Success Course for incoming students since 2013.
Jamie credits the example set by Sr. Kathy Weider, Rev. Elaine Page, and Deacon Leo Aman, who were the chaplains during his undergraduate years, as a major source of inspiration for his work. He is also thankful for the mentorship of William H. Shannon and the support of his many colleagues. He greatly appreciates the hundreds of students he has been able to work with over the years, who have been a source of joy in his life. Jamie is married to his wife, Irene ‘02G, and together they have two daughters: Katie, who graduated from the Nazareth DPT program in 2022, and Jenna, who is currently a Fulbright Scholar in Finland. Jamie and Irene welcomed their first granddaughter, Sophia, this past December.
Outstanding Alumni Award
Dr. Norma Fox Kanarek '74
Norma Carter was born in Auburn, New York and grew up with a brother and four sisters on Cayuga Lake with many paternal relatives close by and was especially fond of her Grandmother Helen. She graduated salutatorian of her Union Springs High School class of 1967 and married her high school sweetheart, Douglas, in 1968. With the Vietnam War raging and a lottery for military call up, Norma followed her husband to various colleges and cities despite having earned a scholarship to Syracuse University. College credits were accumulated across New York State from: Syracuse University, Cayuga County Community College, Buffalo State University, and Rochester Divinity School, before graduating finally from Nazareth in 1974 cum laude with majors in psychology and elementary and special education.
In 1976 a move to Raleigh brough the opportunity to attend graduate school at University of North Carolina’s School of Public Health. There Norma earned a master’s degree in biostatistics (1982) and a doctorate in epidemiology (1985) all white working as a research coordinator at the Research Triangle Institute.
Her long and prolific career journey began with her first full time job as a research assistant at Highland Hospital’s Family Medicine program recruiting and testing young patients for lead poisoning in 1974-1976 – Norma’s first introduction to public health and epidemiology. Various moves across the United States lead her to positions with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Public Health Foundation, and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Her professional accomplishments are many. In 1988, she co-wrote a National Cancer Institute grant to determine the status of the State’s cancer control efforts. Serendipitously, near the end of that project, a Baltimore Sun headline captured the fact that Maryland ranked worst among the states on cancer mortality, second only to Washington, DC. This led to Norma co-authoring the first Cancer Plan for the State, creation of the Maryland Cancer Council and expansion of the Baltimore Cancer Registry.
She constructed a statewide strategy for objectively allocating chronic disease and other programmatic resources to local areas based on statistical outcomes and type/amount of funding. She established the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey at MD DHMH in 1987, which continues today.
In 1998, Norma headed a local jurisdictional data project that would provide every US county a profile of its population’s health. A first of its kind demonstration of annual reporting, it moved from paper to electronic reporting, gained acceptance from state and local public health agencies, and provided a template for the next iterations that occurred due to changes in funding and national leadership at CDC and Robert Wood Foundation. The project was awarded the Golden Hammer award by Vice President Al Gore.
While at Johns Hopkins, Norma served as Executive Director of the Maryland Cigarette Restitution Fund. Johns Hopkins was one of two statewide academic health centers selected to conduct research into what would ease the cancer burden in the State and to increase the body of researchers studying cancer and its causes, at Norma’s direction for 24 years, she helped aid in 374 awards and $332 million in all.
Through her career Norma has balanced her life with demands of raising her family. In 1986, after eighteen years of marriage she and her former husband parted ways, and in 1987 met Harold Kanarek on a blind date, later marrying in 1988.
In 1971, while studying at Nazareth, she welcomed Leah who was later diagnosed with microcephaly, seizures, cleft palate, and cola boma. Leah occasionally came with Norma to class at Nazareth in her carriage, and quietly “participated”. Leah’s prognosis engaged Norma as an active parent in the Monroe Developmental Center (MDS) – a great experiment to provide community based services to the mentally challenged – where Leah attended a day program. After the family’s move to Raleigh, Norma wrote the first grant to initiate home health services for disabled children in Wade County. Leah passed unexpectedly at eight years old from heart and lung failure. While in Raleigh, she and her husband adopted a three month old son, Neal and later another move to Winston Salem brought about the birth of another son, Joel. Today Norma is the grandmother of four grandchildren - Caleb, Zen, Nyree, and Cleo.
Outstanding Alumni Award
Edward Alan Lent ‘79
Poet and Artist EA Lent is a Member of the Academy of American poets, Poetry Society of America, the Connecticut Poetry Society, The Haiku Society of America, The National Federation of State Poetry Societies and CEO of the Ekphrastic Poetry Trust of Connecticut.
Ed and his husband Scott, together for more than 30 years, established the Edward Alan Lent ‘79 and Scott Richard Steitz Emerging Artist Fund in 2021 so undergraduate art majors could see New York City’s art world up close. Through an inspirational reconnection with his former professor Ron Netsky, Ed and Scott thought about the legacy they wanted to leave – giving back to a school that led to Lent's extraordinary career path. In addition to the Emerging Artist Fund which allows art students to see the NYC museum world up close, they have also generously funded the Artistic Advancement Scholarship which provides annual funding for 15 students to purchase art supplies.
A published author - “As Above, So Below” a collection of poetry in 2018 and “Perceptions” in 2023. He has won many awards for his work in poetry, including the award from The New England Ballet Theatre (2021) and the Connecticut Arts Hero Award (2022) from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development. He was nominated for Poet Laureate of Connecticut in 2018 and 2022 and is currently the inaugural Poet Laureate for the town of Madison, Connecticut.
Lastly, Ed is a board member of the Guilford Arts League and an active member of the Madison Art Society. His recent solo Show: ETHEREAL ECHOS, The Art and Alchemy of EA Lent, held in Madison CT, was a tremendous success and his next solo show for 2025 is already booked. More information can be found on his website: www.ealentartistpoet.com
Outstanding Alumni Award
After graduating from Nazareth in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science and minor in Pre-Law, Randi went to the University of Dayton School of Law and earned her Juris Doctor. She came back to Rochester and began practicing law in Workers’ Compensation and Social Security Disability. In 2014, she and her law partner, Daniel Zea, co-founded the law firm, Zea Proukou PLLC, representing injured workers and disabled individuals in their Workers’ Compensation and SSD/SSI claims. In 2021, Zea Proukou PLLC opened a second office location in Canandaigua NY in order to expand their unique services across the Finger Lakes region. Randi takes pride in Zea Proukou’s commitment to personal service to people in times of need and her management of the day-to-day business management of the firm to allow the firm to address these needs.
Randi is a frequent presenter and panelist at continuing legal education programs for other lawyers. She also enjoys participating in Nazareth University events, including recently as a panelist at Nazareth’s Women in Athletics event, as well as mentoring events held annually at Nazareth. Randi takes great pride in her advancement of women in the legal profession through her extensive involvement in the local women’s bar association: Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys, “GRAWA” for short. She was President of GRAWA from 2020 – 2021. She founded and served as the initial chair of the Women in Leadership Committee of GRAWA, which brought together some of the local leading female attorneys to discuss ways to mentor young female attorneys. She has also served as chair of the Membership Committee and Family and Careers Committee, helping female attorneys with family help balance their work life with their family life. Currently she is serving as GRAWA’s Treasurer. She is also involved with the Injured Workers’ Bar Association, NOSSCR, and the Monroe County Bar Association, specifically the Solo and Small Firm Committee.
Randi is devoted to helping her clients and also strives to commit to community focused activities as well. Each year, she helps lead the firm in community service efforts. The team at Zea Proukou has participated in home builds with Habitat for Humanity, a walk to raise money and awareness of Alzheimer’s, retail store organization and cleaning with Re-Store, food cupboard volunteering at Trillium Health, food donation sorting at Foodlink, and collection and donation efforts during the Holidays annually for different organizations in need. She is active with Girls on the Run as a mentor and prior coach for 10 seasons. Her time as a collegiate soccer player under Gail Mann at Nazareth combined with her education and values instilled therein have provided a solid foundation for her growth as a professional, partner, friend, and parent.
Randi and her husband, Nicholas, a 2007 Nazareth undergraduate and partner at the local estate planning law firm, Kroll Proukou, reside in Brighton with their children, Levi and Lilah.
Outstanding Alumni Award
Cathy is beginning her 30th year at Nazareth, and is currently serving as dean of Nazareth’s new College of Interprofessional Health & Human Services. Cathy also directs the York Wellness & Rehabilitation Institute, the umbrella for clinical education for health & human services programs. A professor of speech-language pathology, she joined the Communication Sciences & Disorders Department in 1995, after serving on the faculties of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and Penn State. She has also worked at Gallaudet University and the National Child Research Center in Washington, DC.
Cathy did her master’s at Nazareth and greatly appreciated the mentoring and support of faculty members who helped her prepare for her career with deaf children and their families. She did her doctoral work at Penn State; her research and professional career has focused on the acquisition of spoken language and literacy for deaf children.
Cathy co-founded Nazareth’s graduate deafness specialty preparation program with Dr. Paula Brown to prepare speech-language pathologists to work with Deaf and Hard of Hearing children. Graduates of this program are working all over the U.S.. She served in several capacities with the National Cued Speech Association, and has presented in regional, state, and national venues on applications of cueing for both hearing and deaf individuals. She has helped to garner millions of dollars in federal grants and other gifts to support Nazareth students pursuing health and human services careers, as well as the University’s outreach in the community.
Cathy and her husband Dick live in Mendon and enjoy ballroom dancing and hiking. They love spending time with their four children, their spouses, and five grandchildren who all live in the area.
Outstanding Alumni Award
Yversha Roman has twenty years of experience in progressively responsible roles within not-for-profit services settings. Having lead teams and initiatives at non-profits including: United Way of Greater Rochester, Center for Youth Services, Center for Disability Rights, Rochester After School Academy, Action for a Better Community/ Action Front Center and as an Adjunct at Nazareth College, where she graduated from with her B.S. in Social Work. She is the current Director of Strategic Partnerships and the C.A.S.H (Creating, Assets, Savings and Hope) Coalition at Empire Justice. As a non-profit professional and advocate, she also serves the community as President of the Monroe County Legislature, representing the 26th Legislative District. As an elected official, she has shattered many glass ceilings, becoming the first Latina elected to the Monroe County Legislature and Minority Leader. First individual of Latino ethnicity to become President of the Legislature; as well as the youngest President of the Legislature ever.
Yversha’s continued service to the community has received recognition on numerous occasions, including “Rochester 10” by City Newspaper, Inspiration in Action award by Latino Rotary, 40 under 40 by the Hispanic Institute of New York State and Young Athena award nominee. She has been an active participant on many boards and committees, such as the Advisory Board for the Community Youth Development at Nazareth College and the Healthi Kids Coalition of Common Ground Health. She is the co-founder of Rochester’s Pay Equity Coalition, State Board member and facilitator of the Women Elect Program and founding member of the Monroe County Language Access Coalition. As a mother, wife and homeowner in Northwest Rochester, she is committed to ensuring underrepresented communities have a voice at all tables.
Outstanding Alumni Award
Amy Scaramuzzino '88Amy is a grateful Nazareth alumna. Growing up in Geneva, New York, Amy was
exposed to Nazareth early on in her life as her mother, Rita, earned her certification as a
reading teacher and brought Amy along on her trips to campus. Amy’s undergraduate college choice was simple as she felt comfortable on campus and was seeking a smaller, more
personal educational experience.
Not only did Amy receive a phenomenal education at Nazareth (Bachelor’s in English Cum Laude, with minors in Technical Writing and Women’s Studies), she is emphatic that the care,
compassion and intervention of Nazareth faculty saved her life not once, but twice. In 1986 the faculty and staff intervened to get Amy treatment for her alcohol and drug addiction. They welcomed her back and she completed her undergraduate degree. In 1991, while at St. Bonaventure for her masters she relapsed and became paralyzed in a motor vehicle incident. Despite it being years after her graduation, who shows up at her hospital bed but Nazareth
faculty! From there they had Amy adjunct teach, helped her complete her masters and receive a post baccalaureate certificate in secondary education. (Heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Deborah Dooley, Sister Monica Weis, Sister Kathy Weider, Dr. Susette Graham, and Dr. Kay Valentine.) Amy has been sober ever since.
Amy spent her career working in education with at-risk and disadvantaged youth. First as a teacher at The Norman Howard School. In 2008 Amy had the privilege of sailing on the US Disabled Sail Team to help the US qualify for the Beijing Summer Olympics. Amy had a daily blog with her students and hoped her example showed them the importance of taking risks and
transcending disability labels. Amy was then an administrator of an alternative high school program called Quest at East High School (University of Rochester partnership). The program helped over-age under credit students graduate through intensive half year classes. In three years,12 students graduated who would not have otherwise due to their age and number of credits needed. Amy retired to care for her mother who has since passed.
Nazareth and her recovery program instill the importance of giving back which has been so freely given. Today, Amy focuses on small philanthropy and volunteering at drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, halfway houses, and prisons. Amy is a founding member of the Rochester Spinal Association (‘91) and is currently the President. She volunteers as a peer
support for those newly injured. Amy loves her sober community and her dog Loki, cat “Cat”. Amy has water skied and downhill skied for years, skydived, scuba dived, tried zip lining, and needs to try parasailing. Today she travels, kayaks, gardens, bird watches, and loves the company of friends.
Amy says her proudest achievements are her sobriety and creating a scholarship and endowment in her family name to help Nazareth carry on its purpose and academic excellence with future Nazareth students. “It doesn’t require much money and it’s a beautiful way to say thanks to Nazareth for all the blessings we have reaped.”
GOLD Alumni Award
From a young age, Giulia Molisani always knew that she wanted to attend Nazareth University, drawn to its educational offerings, commitment to inclusion, community, and beautiful campus. She received two degrees from Nazareth and credits the university with being highly influential on her education, development, and life experience, ultimately providing the steppingstone to launching her career.
As an undergraduate, Giulia spent a semester in Valencia, Spain where she interned for a human resource consulting firm. This experience sparked her passion for unlocking individual potential and enhancing organizational success through intentional employee development.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a concentration in human resources in 2013, Giulia began her career in human resources working for a manufacturing company in roles related to learning and development, talent management and organizational development for four years. While working full-time she also pursued her master’s degree from Nazareth in human resource development which she received in 2017.
Giulia then returned to Spain for the unique opportunity to work for global energy leader Iberdrola in Madrid, supporting talent management programs across the globe for three years. She has since continued her career at Avangrid, a leading sustainable energy company and member of the Iberdrola Group, headquartered in Connecticut.
At Avangrid she has held various talent management roles. She played an instrumental role advancing Avangrid’s early career development programs such as the Global Graduate Program and Internship Program, which was recently named in America’s Top 100 Programs by Yello. Currently she serves as a People Business Partner.
Giulia is passionate about giving back to the HR community, helping others to grow their career in HR, and building lifelong connections with other HR professionals. For over 10 years, she has been an active member of the National Human Resources Association, serving both on the Rochester Affiliate Board of Directors as well as on the National Board of Directors in various roles including Director of Programs and National President. She holds several professional licenses and certifications and is a credentialed DDI Facilitator.
Through it all, Giulia is proud to be an alum of Nazareth. As an undergraduate she was inducted into the Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society and was the recipient of the Elizabeth Fake Business Award in recognition of a high academic achievement and overall contribution to the School of Management. She is humbled and honored to be presented with another recognition from Nazareth.
Sports Hall of Fame
Each year, Nazareth honors some of the best ever to don the purple and gold. More than 100 alumni, coaches, and administrators, along with three national championship teams, have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
View the announcement with the 2023 Sports Hall of Fame Inductees