SU Trustee Jack Milton '51 will be honored with the Jonathan J. Holtz Alumnus of the Year Award during the School of Management's annual dinner, to be held at 5:30 p.m. May 2 in the Schine Student Center's Goldstein Auditorium. Fellow SU Trustee Henry A. Panasci Jr. will receive the Dean's Citation for Exceptional Service.
Established in 1986, the Holtz Award annually recognizes a School of Management graduate for outstanding professional accomplishments and service to Syracuse University. Past recipients include former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato '59, LAW '61; Robert B. Menschel '51; J. Spencer Gould '44; James D. Kuhn '70, G'72; John L. Kresicher III '65; Donald A. Zrebiec '59, G'61; George A. Babikian '53; Michael J. Falcone '57; Michael A. Dritz '59; Louis F. Bantle '51; Horace J. Landry '34, G'36; Bernard R. Kossar '53, G'55; David '75 and Ilene '76 Flaum; and Martin J. Whitman '49.
Milton is chairman and CEO of Southworth-Milton Machinery, a privately owned heavy equipment dealer and parts supplier based in Milford, Mass. The company has parts and service contracts with Caterpillar Inc. in New England and eastern New York.
At SU, Milton was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity and the Interfraternity Council. After graduation, he served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 1960, he founded the Jordan Milton Co., which later became Southworth-Milton Inc. through a merger and acquisition.
Milton is a member of SU's Board of Trustees and the School of Management Corporate Advisory Council. He is also a member of the Chancellor's Council and the Society of Fellows. He provided one of the first major gifts for the construction of the new School of Management Building. Milton and his wife, Laura Hanhausen Milton '51 live in Sudbury, Mass. He is a director of the First New Hampshire Bank and the Globe Manufacturing Co.
Panasci is chairman of Cygnus Management Group LLC, a Syracuse-based consulting firm specializing in venture capital and private investments. In 1996, he retired as chairman of the board and CEO of Fay's Inc., one of the largest drug store chains in the country.
Panasci joined SU's Board of Trustees in 1983 and is a member of the Chancellor's Council. He endowed the Syracuse University Entrepreneurial Competition, which ranks among the most lucrative business plan competitions in the country.
Panasci has received the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanities Award of the State of Israel, the Man of the Year Award of Boys Town of Italy, the Syracuse Herald-Journal's Businessman of the Year Award, and the Crystal Ball Award from the Syracuse chapter of Sales and Marketing Executives. He has been honored twice by the Syracuse Symphony as the "Music Man of the Year." The symphony's music director position will be permanently endowed as "The Faye and Henry Panasci Chair."
Panasci received undergraduate degrees in chemistry and pharmacy from the University at Buffalo in 1948 and 1952, respectively.
Other award recipients who will be recognized at the dinner are Amiya Basu, associate professor of marketing (Oberwager Award); Mary Harris, associate professor of accounting (Award for Exceptional Scholarships); Randal Elder, associate professor of accounting (Award for Exceptional Teaching); the late Thomas Finucane, associate professor of finance (Award for Continuous Faculty Improvement, given posthumously); David Green, doctoral student in business administration with a concentration in marketing (Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Doctoral Student); and Susan Dean, office coordinator in the school's academic support center (Staff Award for Exceptional Service).
Patrick J. Cihon, associate professor of law and public policy and chair of the Undergraduate Board, will present the board's Award for Innovation in the Undergraduate Curriculum.
