Montclair State’s 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients

As part of Montclair State University’s Convocation exercises, the University will honor alumni from each college and school with the 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award. Listed below are the Montclair State graduates who will receive the award in their respective colleges or schools.

College of Education and Human Services
Arlene Crescenzi Allen ’64

College of Humanities and Social Sciences – Humanities
Angelo J. Genova ’75

College of Humanities and Social Sciences – Social Sciences
Nader Tavakoli ’80

College of the Arts
Melba Moore ’70

College of Science and Mathematics
Ralph R. Miano ’58

Feliciano School of Business
Constantino Milano ’81

The Graduate School
Crystal Kuykendall ’72 MA

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College of Education and Human Services
Arlene Crescenzi Allen ’64

Arlene Crescenzi Allen retired in 2001 after a 37-year career as an English and literature teacher, most of it for the Clark Township (N.J.) Board of Education. She had taught for 27 years at Governor Livingston Regional High School and three years at Arthur L. Johnson High School.

Allen and her husband have established the Craig and Arlene Crescenzi Allen Endowed Scholarship, which helps support Montclair State teacher education majors during their student teaching experience. The two also support three other annual scholarships to assist student teachers. Allen made the lead gift to establish the Dr. Russell Krauss Classroom in University Hall, which was dedicated in 2008, in memory of a beloved professor and mentor.

A dedicated supporter of Montclair State, Allen has served on the Alumni Association Board, and as a member of her 50th Anniversary Reunion Committee and the Annual Scholarship Dinner Committee. She was a participant in a panel discussion at the University entitled, “Teacher Education at Montclair State: A Proud Past, A Promising Future.”

Allen earned a BA in English from Montclair State College and an MA in humanities from Kean University. Allen and her husband regularly attend events at Montclair State, including the recent Kasser Theater 10th Anniversary celebration, the Annual Scholarship Dinner, and the opening celebrations for the new Feliciano School of Business building and the Center for Environmental and Life Sciences.

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College of Humanities and Social Sciences – Humanities
Angelo J. Genova ’75

Angelo J. Genova is a partner and co-founder of Genova Burns LLC. He is a leading member of the New Jersey Bar in the practice areas of labor and employment law, election law and complex litigation and appeals.

As a labor lawyer, Genova has represented management before the National Labor Relations Board and the New Jersey Public Employment Commission in traditional labor and employment matters in both the private and public sectors. Genova has served four New Jersey Governors (Florio, McGreevey, Codey and Corzine) as the state’s labor negotiator with the unions, representing more than 50,000 public workers. He has participated as defense counsel in employment litigation, discrimination, whistle-blower and wrongful termination trials and appeals. His representation in election law has included appearances on behalf of candidates for public office for the offices of State Assembly, City Council, Mayor, County Executive, State Senate and United States Senate.

Genova is a Fellow of The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He served two terms as chair of the Section on Labor and Employment Law of the New Jersey State Bar Association. He is the co-author of “In the Election of 2002: The Voters of New Jersey Were the Winners,” which appeared in the Seton Hall Legislative Journal in 2002. He frequently lectures on election law and election law financing matters and is a regular commentator on such matters on television and in the print media.

Genova graduated from Montclair State College in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in history. He continued his education at Rutgers University School of Law where he earned a Juris Doctor in 1978. He has remained an active alumnus and is a current member of the Montclair State University Foundation Board of Trustees. He also is a recent recipient of Montclair State University’s Carpe Diem Award.

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College of Humanities and Social Sciences – Social Sciences
Nader Tavakoli ’80

Nader Tavakoli is president and chief executive officer of Ambac Financial Group and Ambac Assurance Corporation, one of the country’s largest guarantors of state and municipal debt. Prior to his appointment as CEO of the company, Tavakoli was chairman of Ambac’s Board of Directors. Among his professional activities, Tavakoli is a director and litigation trustee of MF Global Holdings, where he is pursuing claims against former management and others in connection with recovery of losses incurred at that company.

Tavakoli founded EagleRock Capital Management, LLC, a private investment partnership, in 2002. Prior to that he managed substantial investment portfolios with Odyssey Partners and Highbridge Capital Management, also private investment partnerships. During his 25-year investment career, Tavakoli has made investments across numerous industries, including significant investments in financial services companies. Tavakoli began his professional career as an attorney with the law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy, where he primarily represented institutional clients in banking, litigation and corporate restructuring matters.

Tavakoli is a director of Magnachip Semiconductor Corporation, a Korea-based manufacturer of analogue and mixed-signal semiconductors. Until 2014, he served as chairman of the board of Peak Hotels & Resorts Group, a privately held company that owns and manages the Aman Group of Resorts. Until its sale to AT&T in 2013, Tavakoli was a director of Nextwave Wireless Inc., a wireless technology company.

Tavakoli is a Governance Leadership Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors. He is involved with a number of not-for-profit organizations, including Little Kids Rock, Stand and Deliver, the Princess Grace Foundation and the Challenged Athletes Foundation. He has previously served as a member on the board of the Montclair Art Museum and the Montclair Film Festival, which he co-founded.

Tavakoli graduated from Montclair State College in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in history. He continued his education at Rutgers University School of Law where he earned a Juris Doctor in 1983. He has remained an active alumnus and is a former chair and current member of the Montclair State University Foundation Board of Trustees.

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College of the Arts
Melba Moore ’70

Vocalist and actress Melba Moore is a Tony Award winner and a four-time Grammy nominee.

Her prolific career has spanned the entertainment world. She has been on the Broadway stage in productions of Hair, Timbuktu, Inacent Black, Les Misérables and Purlie, for which she earned a Tony Award. Her movie credits include roles in Cotton Comes to Harlem, Pigeons, Hair, Lost in the Stars, All Dogs Go to Heaven and The Fighting Temptations. In addition, she starred or appeared in many television programs including The Melba Moore-Clifton Davis Show, Ellis Island, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Love Boat, Flamingo Road, Melba, Falcon Crest, The American Women and Portrayals of Courage.

As a vocalist, Moore has recorded albums and has enjoyed great success musically with such chart-topping songs as “Love’s Comin’ At Ya,” “Living for Your Love” and “Read My Lips,” for which she received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal. She also received a Grammy nomination for her album, Peach Melba.

Moore was the first female pop artist to perform a non-operatic solo concert at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House. Her most recent single, “Love Is” was released in 2001. In 2015 she headlined “Forever Moore” at Feinstein’s 54/Below and returned again last January.

Moore was instrumental in having “Lift Every Voice and Sing” inducted into the U.S. Library of Congress as the official Black National Anthem. She has served as national membership chairwoman of the National Council of Negro Women and has been active in the National Congress of Black Women through her involvement with C. Delores Tucker.

Moore is a 1970 graduate of Montclair State College with a BA in Music.

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College of Science and Mathematics
Ralph R. Miano ’58

Ralph R. Miano is a retired chemist from Hoechst Celanese where he was vice president for the Advanced Materials Division. Miano spent most of his career at Hoechst Celanese, retiring in 1972. There, he was involved in the identification, development and commercialization of emerging new technologies. Previously, Miano was director of diversification at Celanese Fibers Company and held various technical positions at other Celanese divisions. Prior to that, he was the business director at Celanese Specialty Operations, which developed Vectra, a high-performance thermoplastic resin.

Miano and his wife support two scholarships at Montclair State. The first is the Miano Graduate Special Education Scholarship, which is awarded to a graduate student enrolled in a program leading to working with children who have pervasive development disorders. The second scholarship, the Miano Math/Science Scholarship, is awarded to a full-time undergraduate student majoring in chemistry and enrolled in a program qualifying them for New Jersey teacher certification.

Miano graduated in 1958 from Montclair State College with a science degree. He earned a PhD in chemistry from Cornell University. Miano was a member of the Montclair State University Foundation Board for many years. He has served on the Board of Trustees of Our House, Inc., a social service agency serving people with developmental disabilities, as well as that of the Eden Institute, an adult residence for developmentally disabled individuals.

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Feliciano School of Business
Constantino Milano ’81

Constantino “Gus” Milano is the president and chief operating officer of Hartz Mountain Industries, Inc., one of the largest private owners of commercial real estate in the United States. Milano joined Hartz Mountain Industries in 1981 starting as an analyst on the first generation of Harmon Cove developments. He worked through the ranks of the finance department before becoming its senior executive and then assuming responsibility for leasing.

Prior to his current role, he was responsible for the finance and leasing departments in the company’s commercial real estate portfolio which consisted primarily of office parks, multi-family residential, industrial property, data centers, shopping centers and hotels. In 2005, he played an instrumental role in the 1031 exchange program that shifted the balance of Hartz Mountain’s portfolio from suburban office to residential with an investment of $1 billion over four years.

Milano is a licensed New Jersey Mortgage Banker and a licensed New Jersey Real Estate Salesman. In 2013, the All Stars Project of New Jersey honored Milano for his commitment to Newark’s young people at its “Building Bridges, Creating Opportunities: A New Play for Newark” annual benefit dinner. In 2015, he was listed as No. 15 on NJ BIZ’s Real Estate Power List.

Milano received a Bachelor of Science in accounting from Montclair State College in 1981 and earned an MBA/Business Administration degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is a member of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Mortgage Bankers Association. Milano is a board member of the All Stars Project of New Jersey, an afterschool development program located in Newark, N.J.

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The Graduate School
Crystal Kuykendall ’72 MA

Crystal Kuykendall is the owner and president of Kreative and Innovative Resources for Kids (K.I.R.K.), which produces audio and video tapes, publications, workbooks and learning tools for educators, counselors, administrators and parents. A human relations and education expert, Kuykendall has gained national recognition for her expertise in promoting problem resolution. A former schoolteacher, she has been a guidance counselor for minority undergraduates and potential high school dropouts and an instructor in the Black Studies and Sociology Departments of Seton Hall University and in the Education Department of Montclair State University.

Kuykendall has more than 30 years of experience working with charitable and nonprofit organizations. She has served as executive director of the National Alliance of Black School Educators, director of urban and minority relations for the National School Boards Association and director of marketing for RLA, Inc. She has served on the board of directors of Health Power, Inc., has served as chair of the Henry C. Gregory III Family Life Center Foundation of Shiloh Baptist Church of Washington, and has provided her expertise to the advisory board of the Congressional National Youth Leadership Conference and to the Education Task Force of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Social Change.

She has served as a member of the National Youth Leadership Conference as well as the National Education Task Force. She is a member of the board of directors of the Maryland Mentoring Partnerships and a lifetime member of the NAACP and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. In 1988, she was admitted to the Bar of the District of Columbia.

Kuykendall earned a BA from Southern Illinois University and an MA in Sociology from Montclair State College. She holds a doctorate in educational administration from Clark Atlanta University and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center. She is the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Lewis and Clark College.