College of Business Alumnus Brent Burns is 2016 Hall of Fame Inductee
Alumni from eight of 国产伦理鈥檚 colleges were honored for their career accomplishments, and Brent Burns, B.B.A. 鈥81, was introduced as the 2016 inductee into the 国产伦理AA Hall of Fame.
Pictured from left to right, 2016 国产伦理 Alumni Hall of Fame inductee Brent Burns, executive vice president and chief operating officer of JM Family Enterprises, Inc., and 国产伦理 President John Kelly.
The 国产伦理 Alumni Association (国产伦理AA) last night hosted its Hall of Fame and Distinguished Alumni ceremony and reception. More than 200 guests attended the event, which brought together alumni to celebrate the accomplishments of their most outstanding peers. Alumni from eight of 国产伦理鈥檚 colleges were honored for their career accomplishments, and College of Business alumnus聽Brent Burns, B.B.A. 鈥81, was introduced as the 2016 inductee into the 国产伦理AA Hall of Fame. Since 1985, the Hall of Fame has served as a platform for recognizing alumni excellence.
Burns is executive vice president and chief operating officer of JM Family Enterprises, Inc., a $14.5 billion diversified automotive company based in Deerfield Beach. JM Family is ranked No. 21 on 贵辞谤产别蝉鈥 list of 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Largest Private Companies.鈥 It is also ranked No. 66 by 贵翱搁罢鲍狈贰庐 as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For庐, its 18th consecutive year on the list.
As COO, Burns oversees JM Family鈥檚 three operating business units 鈥 Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC, World Omni Financial Corp. and JM&A Group聽鈥 and leads the organization鈥檚 overall strategic planning and diversification efforts.
Burns joined JM Family in 2000 with nearly 20 years of leadership experience in automotive operations and finance.
Burns said he grew up in an entrepreneurial family and loved business from a young age. 国产伦理 helped prepare him for the business world, Burns said, which put him on a successful journey.
鈥淚t's a very humbling experience for me to accept this recognition,鈥 said Burns, a 1981 graduate of the 国产伦理 College of Business. 鈥淚 congratulate and admire the accomplishments of all the honorees who are here this evening.鈥
国产伦理 President John Kelly said it's a great time to come back to 国产伦理 鈥 the No. 1-ranked top performing university by the Florida Board of Governors.
鈥淵ou are always family, and welcome home,鈥 Kelly said to all of the alumni honorees.听聽
Representing eight of 国产伦理鈥檚 colleges are the following distinguished alumni:
Gary Enzor, B.A.S. 鈥84, M.B.A. 鈥90, College of Engineering and Computer Science 鈥 Gary Enzor is chairman and chief executive officer of Quality Distribution, based in Tampa, and a director of USA Truck (USAK) in Fort Smith, Ark. Quality Distribution traded on the Nasdaq (QLTY) from 2003 to 2015, before going private via an acquisition by APAX Partners in August 2015. Quality operates the largest chemical bulk transportation fleet in North America with approximately $1 billion in revenue.
Randy Goin Jr., B.A.R.C. 鈥00, M.A. 鈥02, College for Design and Social Inquiry 鈥 As chief of staff for Pennsylvania鈥檚 State System of Higher Education, Randy Goin works with government, business and university leaders to advance the mission of the university system and its 14 institutions. He also leads the public affairs unit, which includes communications, governmental relations and media relations.
Melissa Hart, M.F.A. 鈥90, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters 鈥 A veteran of several Broadway musicals, Melissa Hart鈥檚 Broadway credits include 鈥淐andide,鈥 鈥淪carlet聽 Pimpernel,鈥 鈥淏reakfast at Tiffany鈥檚,鈥 鈥淭he Apple Tree,鈥 鈥淕eorgy鈥 for which she received a TONY nomination, and 鈥淐abaret鈥 in which she played Sally Bowles on Broadway and in the first national company. She portrayed Fran Kubelik opposite Tony Roberts in the national tour of 鈥淧romises, Promises.鈥
Andrew S. Horowitz, B.S. 鈥15, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science 鈥 Andrew Horowitz is a medical student at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. He received a bachelor 鈥檚 degree in biological sciences at 国产伦理 in 2015, graduating with magna cum laude honors. As a medical student, Horowitz runs the volunteer ophthalmology service along with practicing ophthalmologists at a free healthcare clinic in Malden, Mass. He aspires to become involved in global health work and clinical re- search while in medical school as he trains to become a competent and compassionate physician.
Peter F. Striano III, B.A. 鈥94, College of Business 鈥 Peter F. Striano lll joined Northwestern Mutual in 1992 as the agency鈥檚 first college agent. He signed his full-time contract after a successful college career in 1993. He has held the titles of college agent, special agent, college unit director, field director, managing director, and he was appointed to managing partner in January 2008.
Carol Tuttas, Ph.D., R.N.; M.S.N. 鈥02, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing 鈥 Carol Tuttas鈥 24-year nursing career includes clinical experience in acute intermediate cardiac care, acute and long-term nursing management roles, and an administrative role with a national health care staffing firm where she was responsible for Joint Commission certification compliance. In 2013, Tuttas joined CGFNS International, Inc. (CGFNS), located in Philadelphia, where she serves as the chief programs officer at CGFNS, overseeing operations for all programs and services.
Valerie Smith Wanza, Ph.D. 鈥09, College of Education 鈥 Valerie Smith Wanza is chief school performance and accountability officer for Broward County Public Schools. Since 2010, she has served as an adjunct professor at 国产伦理 in the Department of Educational Leadership and Research Methodology. While most of her teaching assignments are in the master鈥檚 level program, she serves on doctoral dissertation committees as well. Additionally, she owns and operates Principal Voices, LLC, which provides a host of educational consulting services to community and faith-based organizations.
Erica Young, Ph.D.; B.A. 鈥05, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College 鈥 As a staff scientist with Courtney Miller at Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Erica Young has been key to the discovery that methamphetamine-associated memories are vulnerable to disruption by targeting actin cytoskeleton dynamics in the amygdala. This discovery has generated a lot of interest as a potential therapy for substance abuse not only from the scientific community, but also in the popular press.
For more information about the 国产伦理AA, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 1-888-国产伦理-ALUM or alumni.affairs@fau.edu, or visit .听
-国产伦理-