2023 Presidential Humanitarian Awardees Stephen F. Somerstein ’66 and H. Carl McCall
The City College of New York will mark the first year of its “Doing Remarkable Things Together” campaign at its 2023 Presidential Humanitarian Awards Celebration on Tuesday, May 2 at 6:30 p.m. in the Great Hall of Shepard Hall.
The Celebration will honor H. Carl McCall, chairman emeritus of the State University of New York, a former New York state comptroller and state senator, and the Democratic Party’s 2002 gubernatorial nominee; and renowned photographer and physicist Stephen F. Somerstein ’66.
McCall will be recognized for his trailblazing career and lifelong commitment to New York state and the nation, and for his long career in public service. Somerstein will be recognized for his important role in documenting the nation's history and its goals to achieve a more equitable society.
“This year, we begin a new tradition of identifying honorees who have demonstrated a particular respect for and promotion of humanitarian goals and values,” said City College President Vincent G. Boudreau. “H. Carl McCall’s wise and inspired decades of public service at all levels and Stephen F. Somerstein’s riveting visual capture of key moments in the Civil Rights movement make them exemplary inaugural honorees. CCNY is proud, via this award, to associate our history and our vision with their works and lives.”
Announced last year, “Doing Remarkable Things Together” is a campaign to triple The City College’s endowment to $1 billion in 10 years. Increasing the existing endowment will lay the foundation for continuing success by supporting creative scholarships, internships, fellowships, and entrepreneurship initiatives, and upgrading physical facilities. These ambitions will also help to expand the College’s world-class research profile.
“We are proud to honor City College alumni and our friends whose generosity of spirit has been put to the service of others,” said Martin Cohen ’70, chairman and co-founder of investment firm Cohen & Steers, Inc. and the Board Chair of the Foundation for City College, Inc. “That generosity of spirit, as exemplified by this year’s honorees, sets an example for all of us.”
Cohen is a co-chair of the Celebration, along with Lloyd A. Williams, president and CEO of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, and 2023 Alumni Reunion Chair Emanuel "Jim" Stergiou '71, founder and CEO of SGRisk, LLC.
Registration for this black-tie event is available here.
About the City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. This year, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.