The Kerala Center Awards 2012

Great Neck, NY: The Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Center (http://keralacenterny.com) will honor five Indian American Malayalees for their outstanding achievements in their field of specialization or for their service to the society and one diplomat for his service to the UN. The awardees will be honored at Kerala Center’s annual banquet on Saturday, November 3rd starting at 7.00 p.m. at Leonards of Great Neck in Long Island (near Queens, New York City, address: 555 Northern Boulevard, Great Neck, NY 11021).

The Chief Guest for the evening is Vijay K. Nambiar, Under Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on Myanmar. Ambassador Nambiar will be honored for his service to the U,N. The keynote speaker is Dr. Geeta Menon, Dean, Undergraduate College and Abraham Krasnoff Professor of Global Business, Stern School of Business, New York University. Dr. Menon will also be honored for her achievement in the field of Education. Other award recipients who will be honored at the Awards Banquet are: Joy Kuttiyani, President of Kerala Samajam of South Florida, whose initiative to erect Mahatma Gandhi came to fruition recently for Community Service; Viju Menon, Vice President of Supply Chain Management at Verizon, the largest wireless carrier in the United States for Applied Sciences; Dr. Narayanan Neithalath is an Associate Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, for Engineering; Roy Thomas, Deputy Director at New York State Mental Health Department for Social Work.

An entertainment will follow after the award ceremony with a special performance by Wanted Ashiq, NY’s Premier Bollywood & Fusion Dance Troupe. Tickets for banquet can be reserved by contacting Kerala Center at 516-358-2000 or e-mail at [email protected].

Chief Guest and Being Recognized for Service to the UN
Ambassador Vijay Nambiar is Under Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on Myanmar. He has been with the United Nations for the last six years before which, as an Indian Foreign Service Officer, he spent thirty eight years with the Government of India and served between 1985 and 2004 as Ambassador of India in Algeria, Afghanistan, Malaysia, China, Pakistan and the United Nations. He is fluent in Chinese and holds a post-graduate degree from Bombay University where he was awarded the Chancellor’s Gold Medal in 1965. He is married to Malini Nambiar and has two daughters.

Keynote Speaker – Recognition for Outstanding Achievement in Education
Dr. Geeta Menon is the 11th Dean of the Undergraduate College at NYU’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business and the Abraham Krasnoff Professor of Global Business and Professor of Marketing. A respected educator at the graduate and undergraduate levels, she has mentored many doctoral students who have gone on to become faculty members at top schools. Dean Menon is also a prominent scholar whose study of the role of consumer memory and emotion in survey methodology has been published in leading academic journals, at which she has held editorial roles. She is the past President of the Association for Consumer Research (ACR). Dean Menon received her undergraduate degree from Stella Maris College and graduate degree from Madras Christian College in Chennai and Ph.D. in Business Administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Recognition for Outstanding Community Service
Joy Kuttiyani is the current president of Kerala Samajamof South Florida. He conceived the idea to create a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi on a half acre site in a public park in the city of Davie, where he lives. This was done with the involvement of a number of Indian Organizations and the City of Davie. The dedication of the Gandhi Square and the unveiling was done by Dr. Abdul Kalam along with American and Indian dignitaries. He is highly active in the both Indian and American political and community development.Advisory board member of Park & Recreation Town of Davie.

Recognition for Outstanding Achievement in Applied Sciences
Viju Menon is Vice President of Supply Chain Management at Verizon, the largest wireless carrier in the United States. He is a Fellow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Leaders for Global Operations Program with graduate degrees in Engineering and Management from MIT. Prior to Verizon, Viju led Intel Corporation’s World-wide Supply Planning Operations. A recognized thought-leader in Lean Manufacturing and Supply Chain Transformations, Viju has published in various journals and is an invited speaker at Industry Conferences. In 2012, Viju was selected to Diversity MBA Magazine’s “Top 100 Under 50” National list of “Diverse Executive and Emerging Leaders”.

Recognition for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering
Dr. Narayanan Neithalath is an Associate Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University, Tempe. AZ. Prior to that he was in the faculty at Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY. His expertise is in the science of sustainable materials for buildings and infrastructure. He is credited with developing, characterizing, and modeling novel cementitious materials that have lower carbon footprints, lower resource and energy implications, and lasts much longer, for use in infrastructural systems. He has authored more than 100 international journal and conference articles, and has delivered keynote lectures in several conferences within and outside the United States. His research on novel materials has been acknowledged by several awards including a CAREER award by the National Science Foundation.

Recognition for Outstanding Accomplishments in Social Service
Roy Thomas has been appointed as the Deputy Director at New York State Mental Health Department by the Governor, Andrew M. Cuomo’s office. He is probably the only person of South Asian descent who is entrusted with this title in the history of the New York State Civil Service. During his last tenure of 5 years as the Chief of Service, his bold leadership and management was instrumental in transforming the Bronx Psychiatric Center into one of the leading hospitals in New York State. This landmark achievement has helped him to be chosen by the political leadership in Albany.

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Suresh Bodiwala
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