2012 Nominees Named For New Jersey Hall Of Fame

MY9TV.com - Entertainment legends, inventors, sports heroes, artists, a Vice President and a President comprise some of the 50 great New Jerseyans nominated for the fifth class of the New Jersey Hall of Fame which was made public on Tuesday.

While there are a few relatively unknown nominees, much of the list includes some big names and a few surprises.

In the Historical Category, which is for deceased Jerseyans whose accomplishments transcend any particular category, perennial nominee President Grover Cleveland is joined by Thomas Jefferson’s Vice President Aaron Burr. The list also includes Revolutionary War luminaries Thomas Paine, Richard Stockton and Molly Pitcher. Activists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Irene Hill Smith are also included along with the first female film director Alice Guy Blaché, rodeo star Annie Oakley and biochemist Selman Waksman.

The Arts & Entertainment Category is filled with household names including actors Alan Alda, Christopher Reeve and Michael Douglas. The E Street Band marks the first group to be nominated to the Hall along with legendary musical stars Celia Cruz, Connie Francis, Dionne Warwick, Dizzy Gillespie and Sarah Vaughn. Multi-talented Mr. New Jersey Joe Piscopo rounds out the list.

The Enterprise Category includes scientists, business leaders, inventors, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and leaders in medicine. This year’s nominees feature former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, chef Alice Waters, and inventors Alfred Vail, David Sarnoff and chemist John Dorrance. Others in this category include Dr. James Still, Elizabeth Coleman White, John Roebling and Mary Roebling. Publishing giant Samuel I. Newhouse completes the roster of nominees in this category.

New Jersey has long been home to great sports figures and this year’s list of nominees reminds us what a fertile training ground the state has been for those in the sports world. Coaches Bill Parcells and Bob Hurley, Giants owner Wellington Mara, broadcasting icons Dick Vitale and Ed Sabol are known around the world for their impact in their respective fields, but there are also superb athletes on the list. Basketball star Carol Blazejowski, track star Mary Decker Slaney, football greats Milt Campbell and Rosy Grier, and baseball legend Monte Irvin are all remarkable individuals.

The largest category, General, is a broad category that includes educators, writers, poets, military leaders, scholars and more. The nominees this year include artists Alexander Calder, Alfred Stieglitz, Charles Addams, and Thomas Nast, philanthropist Doris Duke, economist Milton Friedman, writers Joyce Carol Oates and Dorothy Parker, scholar Dorothy Porter Wesley and Governor Tom Kean.

“We expanded our list of nominees this year because the people of New Jersey have nominated so many remarkable individuals over the past 12 months,” said John O’Brien, Chair of the New Jersey Hall of Fame Voting Committee and Director of the New Jersey Press Foundation. “As people study the candidates and decide how to vote, they will be learning about great role models who never gave up in the pursuit of their dreams.”

The annual Hall of Fame nomination process begins in the summer when a panel of experts, comprised of university professors, scientists, editors, authors and other authorities, reviews and evaluates a list of more than 230 potential Hall of Famers. That list, compiled from nominations made by the public and the experts, is presented to the Voting Academy, which is the voting steering committee for the Hall of Fame. The Voting Academy is made up of approximately 100 of the state’s most prominent organizations as well as former Governors. The Voting Academy then votes to determine the nominees in each category.

"Each year our list of nominees is indeed impressive," said John Keegan, Chairman of the Charles Edison Fund and Chairman Emeritus of the Hall of Fame Foundation Board. "The people of our state should be proud of these individuals who have attained remarkable success. Schools around the state are using our Hall of Fame instructional units, created by teachers under the leadership of the NJEA and the Comcast Foundation to instruct students about New Jersey history, to develop leadership skills and to introduce the voting process using the NJHOF vote as the cornerstone of their lessons."

Now through January, everyone can vote on-line at the Hall of Fame website which is www.NJHallofFame.org . With this call to vote, the Hall of Fame introduces a new look to the website, designed and maintained by SetNine, a Newark-based web development firm. In addition to a robust website, the NJHOF has an exhibit on the boardwalk in Asbury Park and plans to create a mobile museum which will take exhibits to schools and communities around the state.

“Education is the key to our mission,” said Marie Blistan, NJEA Treasurer and member of the Board of Commissioners. “With the construction of a mobile museum, we will be able to take the Hall of Fame to the people of New

Jersey. Families can easily pay a visit to the trailer when it comes to their communities not only to teach their children about New Jersey history, but also to inspire them to excel.”

Although created through bipartisan unanimous legislation, the New Jersey Hall of Fame is supported exclusively though private donations. Major sponsors include J.H. Cohn, NJEA, Comcast and the Comcast Foundation, Charles Edison Fund, Johnson & Johnson and PNC Bank. Other major supporters include the New Jersey Broadcasters Association, BGIA, the Hess Corporation, the Horizon Foundation and the Edwards family.

The public can vote for their selections to The New Jersey Hall of Fame on-line at NJHallofFame.org . Inductees to the Class of 2012 will be announced in January.

CLASS OF 2012 NOMINEES

HISTORICAL

The Historical Category is open for deceased New Jerseyans whose contributions transcend any one particular category.

Aaron Burr Newark (1756-1836) After attending Princeton University, he served in the army during the Revolutionary War, was a successful attorney and later became vice president during Thomas Jefferson’s presidential term.
Alice Guy Blache Fort Lee, Mahwah (1873-1968) Born in Paris, she was a French filmmaker who became the first female director in the motion picture industry and helped make Fort Lee the first film capital of America.
Annie Oakley Nutley (1860-1926) As the major attraction at Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, she captivated audiences by shooting pistols, rifles and shotguns. After overcoming poverty and becoming a legendary markswoman, her life was immortalized through Irving Berlin’s hit musical “Annie Get Your Gun.”
Elizabeth Cady Stanton Tenafly (1850-1902) Activist, abolitionist and a leading figure in the early woman’s right movement, she helped organize the first women’s rights convention, became the first president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and co-authored “History of Woman Suffrage.”
Grover Cleveland Caldwell (1837 – 1908) The only president to serve two non-consecutive terms, he is still praised by historians for his honesty, independence and good character.
Irene Hill Smith Woodbury (1926-2011) Civil rights leader, activist and humanitarian who lead the NAACP at the County, State and National levels, marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Legislation and served Governors and Presidents in many capacities.
Molly Pitcher Trenton, Monmouth (1754-1832) One of the few heroines of the Revolutionary War, she fought alongside her husband in the war, carried pitchers of clean water to soldiers during the Battle of Monmouth and later met with General George Washington, who issued her a warrant as a non commissioned officer.
Richard Stockton Princeton (1730-1781) The first person from New Jersey to sign the Declaration of Independence, he was a judge on the Supreme Court and selected to represent New Jersey in the Continental Congress. The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey is named in his honor.
Selman Waksman New Brunswick (1888-1973) Known as the “Father of Antibiotics,” this Russian immigrant was a professor of biochemistry and microbiology at Rutgers University, where his work led him to the discovery of over twenty antibiotics. A former president of the American Society of Microbiology, he won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1952 for his discovery of the first antibiotic used to cure tuberculosis.
Thomas Paine Bordentown (1737-1809) Born in England, this great thinker immigrated to the colonies in 1774 where he was an author, pamphleteer, revolutionary and leading intellectual in pre-Revolutionary War efforts. Bordentown was his home for more than 25 years.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
The Arts & Entertainment Category includes musicians, singers, songwriters, actors & actresses, artists, dancers and those who work in the related field.

Alan Alda Leonia (1936 - ) Popular actor, director and screenwriter, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye in the TV series “M*A*S*H,” for which he was nominated for 21 Emmy Awards and won five. He is very active in support of St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
Celia Cruz Fort Lee (1925-2003) A salsa singer, originally from Havana, Cuba, she helped popularize salsa music in the United States, having 23 certified gold albums and becoming one of the most successful salsa performers ever.
Christopher Reeve Princeton (1952 – 2004) Most remembered for his role as Superman in the movie franchise, he was a seasoned actor who became a quadriplegic after a horse accident and later lobbied on behalf of people with spinal cord injuries and founded the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.
Connie Francis Newark (1938 - ) One of the first worldwide pop stars, she was a chart-topping singer during the 1950s and 1960s with hits like “Who’s Sorry Now?” and “Stupid Cupid.”
Dionne Warwick East Orange (1940 - ) A Grammy-award winning singer, she ranks second, behind Aretha Franklin, as the most popular

female vocalist ever, with 56 chart singles on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.
Dizzy Gillespie Englewood (1917-1993) In addition to being a renowned jazz trumpet player, he was also a bandleader, singer, composer and teacher. He pioneered Afro-Cuban jazz and has won several Grammy Awards.
The E Street Band Asbury Park (1974 - ) Best known as Bruce Springsteen’s band, the group has also recorded with a wide range of artists from Bob Dylan to the Grateful Dead.
Joe Piscopo Passaic (1951 - ) Comedian, actor, musician, singer, he is a multitalented performer who is always in demand as a performer. A true Jersey guy, Piscopo is generous with his time and has been recognized for his philanthropy, volunteerism and generosity.
Michael Douglas New Brunswick (1944 - ) Following in the steps of his father Kirk, he became a prominent actor who won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards and can be seen in the upcoming sequel to Wall Street, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.
Sarah Vaughn Newark (1924-1990) After winning an Amateur Night performance at the Apollo Theater, she opened for Ella Fitzgerald and later became one of the greatest of all jazz singers, winning a Grammy Award and the National Endowment for the Arts’ Jazz Masters Award.

ENTERPRISE
The Enterprise Category is open to scientists, business leaders, inventors, leaders in medicine, entrepreneurs and philanthropists.
Alfred Vail Morristown (1807-1859) An inventor and skilled mechanic who helped Samuel Morse develop and commercialize the telegraph. He was also the recipient, in Baltimore, of Morse’s famous first message sent through the telegraph, “What hath God wrought!”
Alice Waters Chatham (1944 - ) Influential chef who is a famous champion of locally-grown fresh ingredients and has recently attracted national attention for promoting food education in schools and for being a leading advocate of a stimulus package that works to give every child in the public school system free breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack.
David Sarnoff Princeton, Camden, (1891-1971) Considered “the father of electronic communications,” he formed the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), which went on to produce radio and television broadcasting, color TV and flat-panel display.
Dr. James Still Moorestown (1812-1882) Known as "the black doctor of the pinelands," he drew people from miles around New Jersey to be, although had no formal training as a physician; used herbs and botanical remedies of his own devising to treat his large number of patients.
Elizabeth Coleman White New Lisbon Pemberton (1871-1954) She introduced the nation's first cultivated blueberry and was the first to use cellophane in the packaging of blueberries. She helped organize the New Jersey Blueberry Cooperative Association, was the first woman member of the American Cranberry Association and the first woman recipient of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture citation.
John Dorrance Cinnaminson (1873-1930) A chemist by profession, he went to work for the Joseph Campbell Preserve Company, now renamed the Campbell Soup Company, where he invented condensed soup. He went on to become the company's president for 16 years, turning the business into a household name.
John Roebling Trenton, Roebling (1806-1869) A German-born civil engineer, he originated the wire rope suspension bridge design, which was the same design that he used to build the Brooklyn Bridge.
Mary G. Roebling Trenton (1905 – 1994) Broke the glass ceiling for women in business in general and in the banking and financial services industry specifically. She was the first female governor of the American Stock Exchange.
Paul Volcker Teaneck (1927 - ) Born in Cape May, Volker graduated from Teaneck High School and Princeton University to become a leading economist and Chairman of the Federal Reserve under Presidents Carter and Reagan.
Samuel I. Newhouse Bayonne (1895-1979) A legendary publisher and media giant, he founded Advance Publications which now owns The Star-Ledger and magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker.
SPORTS
The Sports Category is open not only to athletes, but also to coaches and others in the field of sports.

Bill Parcells Englewood (1941 - ) The former head coach of the New York Giants, the New York Jets and New England Patriots, he has won three Super bowls and currently serves as the Miami Dolphins’ Executive Vice President of Football Operations.
Bob Hurley Jersey City (1947 - ) Legendary basketball coach at St. Anthony High School, Coach Hurley has amassed 26 state championships and more than 1,000 wins in his 39 years at the school. Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, Hurley has devoted his life to coaching high school, turning down many college coaching offers.
Carol Blazejowski Elizabeth, Nutley (1956 - ) This three-time All-American basketball player for Montclair State University played in the now-defunct Women’s Pro Basketball League before becoming