January 24, 2006  

NSU to Honor Alvin Sherman and August Urbanek with President’s Community Award at Celebration of Excellence

FORT LAUDERDALE-DAVIE, Fla. — Nova Southeastern University (NSU) will honor community leaders Alvin Sherman and August Urbanek with the university’s highest honor, the President’s Community Award, at its ninth annual Celebration of Excellence.

Initiated in 1997 by then-president Ovid Lewis, NSU’s Celebration of Excellence is a premier event held at Davie’s Signature Grand. Each year, the awards presentation brings together community leaders and industry pioneers who have made significant contributions to their professions and communities. The Presidents Award is granted annually to individuals whose leadership and support provides the foundation for continued growth of the university. Last year’s honorees were Marti and H. Wayne Huizenga.

Sherman grew up in New York and served as a B-17 pilot for the Air Force during WWII, flying 35 missions over Germany. In 1955, he founded the Development Corporation of America (DCA), a real estate development company with properties throughout the country, and moved to Florida.  Sherman sold DCA in 1986 to Lennar Corporation, and has dedicated his time to philanthropy and education ever since.  In 2001, he lent his name and resources to the state’s first public/private joint use library, the Alvin Sherman Library Resource and Information Technology Center.  Located on the main campus of NSU, this five story building with wireless access throughout has become a true community asset.  Currently, more than 30,000 Broward County residents hold library cards and use this facility.

Urbanek was born in Czechoslovakia, and moved to Milwaukee where he founded and operated a successful real estate firm.  In 1960, he and his family headed for the Sunshine State and he established a successful real estate company that built more than 3,000 condominiums in a ten year span.  In 1978, he established August Urbanek Investments and Commercial Management Corp.  An active civic leader, he is a founding member of the World Business Council and serves as a trustee of both the Fort Lauderdale Art Museum and Holy Cross Hospital.  He was also instrumental to the construction of the Broward Center for the Performing Arts Au-Rene Theater. Urbanek was also an inaugural member of NSU’s Entrepreneur Hall of Fame in 1990.  

NSU will also present the 2005 Distinguished Alumni Awards to graduates of the university’s schools, colleges and centers. Honorees are:

Thomas S. Zeller, M.P.T. 1996 College of Allied Health & Nursing	Charles W. Kinnaird, O.D., FAAO College of Optometry
Geneen Robyn Graber, Pharm.D., 1996 College of Pharmacy	Robert C. Anderson, Ed.D., 2000 Fischler School of Education and Human Services
Clarice M. Yentsch, Ph.D., 1970 Oceanographic Center	Marilyn Anita Vestal, Ph. D., 2001 Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences
David W. Singer, J.D., 1980 Shepard Broad Law Center	Cassandra Frank Josephson, M.D., 1986 University School
Donna Horkey, M.S., PHR, 1987 H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship	Glenn K. Moran, D.O., FACOFP, 1988 College of Osteopathic Medicine
Lee Baer, Ph.D., 1980 Center for Psychological Studies	James Frederick Ransome Ph.D., 2004 Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences
Madeleine Arritola Mailman Segal Institute for Early Childhood Studies	Bud Leveron, Psy.D., M.S., B.S., 1992 Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences
Eyad Shehadeh, D.D.S. College of Dental Medicine

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With more than 26,000 students, NSU is the largest independent institution of higher education in the Southeast, and the 7th largest independent not-for-profit institution of higher education in the United States. NSU awards associate's, bachelor's, master's, educational specialist, doctoral, and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields. The institution also enjoys an excellent reputation for its programs for families offered through the Mailman Segal Institute for Early Childhood Studies and University School, a pre-kindergarten through 12th grade private, college preparatory school.