July 20, 2005
FORT LAUDERDALE-DAVIE—Ronald G.
Assaf, former Chairman of Boca Raton-based Sensormatic Electronics
NYSE, a $1 billion multinational corporation, will succeed Robert A.
Steele who has served as Chairman of Nova Southeastern University’s
Board of Trustees. Barry J. Silverman, M.D. will succeed August C.
Paoli who has served on the Board as Vice Chairman.
Both Mr. Steele and Mr. Paoli will remain
as members of the Board of Trustees. Allen C. Harper, Chairman Emeritus
of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell (EWM) Realtors and Nell McMillan Lewis,
Ed.D., who worked with the Broward County School Board for more than
20 years, have both been appointed to new seats on the Board.
“Under the visionary leadership
of Bob Steele and August Paoli, Nova Southeastern University has experienced
tremendous growth and increased its prominence in the region and the
nation,” said NSU President Ray Ferrero, Jr., J.D.
“As we continue to refine our offerings,
and broaden the scope of services we offer to the community, we look
forward to the guidance and support we’ll receive from these
outstanding community leaders who are already proving themselves champions
of the university,” President Ferrero added.
Mr. Assaf founded Sensormatic Electronics
Corporation in 1966 for the purpose of developing theft deterrent devices
for retail stores. In 1971, he was elected Chairman of the Board of
Sensormatic, and in 1974, Mr. Assaf assumed the additional duties of
President. He continued to serve as Sensormatic’s Chairman until
2001, when the company was acquired by Tyco International.
Active in numerous civic organizations,
with special emphasis on education, Mr. Assaf has served as Chairman
of the Florida Atlantic University Foundation Board and served on the
Board of Trustees for Lynn University, as well as on the Board of Nova
Southeastern University. He has received honorary doctorates from each
institution. He is also past Chairman and current Trustee of the Boca
Raton Community Hospital.
In addition to the Ellis Island Medal
of Honor, he has received numerous other professional and civic awards,
the most recent which he shared with his wife, Kathy, the Palm Beach
County Philanthropist of the Year Award. Other awards include the Sun-Sentinel
Excalibur Award as Broward County Businessman of the Year; The National
Conference of Christians and Jews Silver Medallion Award; INC Magazine's
Florida Spirit of Entrepreneur Award; Distinguished Alumni Award-University
of Akron, as well as the Boca Raton Civic Award.
Dr. Silverman, who has served on the
Board of Trustees since 1996, is a board certified Orthopedic Surgeon
based in Aventura, Florida. He is a member of the American Academy
of Orthopedic Surgeons, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Surgeons.
In 2001 Dr. Silverman was appointed to serve on the Florida Federal
Judicial Nominating Commission for the Southern District. He has also
served as Chairman of the Foundation of Jewish Philanthropies of the
Greater Miami Jewish Federation, Chairman of the Board of the Easter
Seal Society of Dade County and is a longstanding member of the American
Israeli Public Affairs Committee.
Mr. Harper served as Immediate Past Chairman
of Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. He also served on the Tri-County
Commuter Rail Authority (Tri-Rail) Board of Directors and was instrumental
during Tri-Rail’s transition to the South Florida Regional Transit
Authority, where he served as Chairman. In May 2001, he was appointed
by Governor Bush to serve on the Board of the Miami-Dade Expressway
Authority and in July, 2002 he was elected Board Chairman. Previously,
Mr. Harper and his partner purchased EWM in 1984 and sold it to HomeServices
of America, Inc., an affiliate of the Berkshire Hathaway Company, in
July 2003.
Dr. Lewis is currently the President
of the Board of Trustees for the Rumbaugh Goodwin Institute for Cancer
Research. She has been a community activist, working to improve the
quality of life in South Florida. First as a teacher, then as a principal
and school supervisor, she helped shape education in the region. She
was named a ‘Woman of Vision” by the Weizman Institute
of Science in 2000. Dr. Lewis has a long history of service in the
community, including participation on the boards of the American Cancer
Society, Royal Dames of Cancer Research, Girl Scouts of America, Sister
Cities International, Miami City Ballet and Insight for the Blind.
Mr. Steele has contributed years of valuable
service to NSU since taking his seat on the Board of Trustees in 1973.
He served as the Board’s Finance Committee Chair for several
years before being appointed Chairman of the Board. Mr. Steele and
his wife Millicent have given philanthropically and acted as the university’s
ambassadors throughout the country. Professionally, he grew a small
Miami company into South Florida Mack Truck, Inc., the largest Mack
Truck distributor in the United States.
Mr. Paoli joined the Board in 1975 and
has served as Vice Chairman of the Board and Chairman of Development.
In 1983, the much-accomplished attorney and past Chairman of the Board
of Governors of the Shepard Broad Law Center, was awarded an honorary
Doctor of Law degree from the university.
Members of the NSU Board of Trustees
include: W. Tinsley Ellis, J.D.; Ray Ferrero, Jr., J.D.; Ronald G.
Assaf (Chairman); Michael Bienes; Rick Case; Andrew J. DiBattista;
Douglas Donn; Linda L. Gill; Allen C. Harper; H. Wayne Huizenga; Royal
F. Jonas; Milton Jones; Kenneth V. Knight; Alan B. Levan; Nell McMillan
Lewis, Ed.D.; August C. Paoli, J.D.; Joseph R. Millsaps; David H. Rush;
Richard D. Segal; Barry J. Silverman, M.D. (Vice Chairman); Franklin
L. Smith, Ed.D.; Robert A. Steele; J. Kenneth Tate; August Urbanek;
Sylvia Urlich; and Zachariah P. Zachariah, M.D.
NSU, with more than 26,000 students,
is the largest independent institution of higher education in the Southeast,
and the 8th 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.
