The CCNY Alumni Association's 2020 honorees (from left) NFL legend Joe Namath, journalists Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill; and lawyer Herbert Rubin from the Class of 1938.
Legendary NFL quarterback Joe Namath and, posthumously, giants of New York journalism, Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill, are winners of the 73rd John H. Finley Award from The Alumni Association of The City College of New York. Herbert Rubin, Esq., from the Class of 1938 and at 102 one of the oldest living City College alumni, heads a list of seven distinguished Townsend Harris Medal recipients for outstanding post-graduate achievements.
This year’s other Townsend Harris recipients are:
- Dr. Jay-Sheree Allen, Class of 2011, a physician;
- Radha Blank ’97, a filmmaker;
- Charles Copeland ’68, President and CEO of Goldman Copeland;
- Robert (Bob) Friedman ’62, former CFO of Goldman Sachs;
- Jeffrey Levine ’75, Founder & Chairman of Douglaston Development LLC; and
- Lev Sviridov, Class of 2005, director, Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College/CUNY.
The honorees will be recognized virtually at the Alumni Association’s 140th annual gala 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5. Alumni scholarship recipients will also be celebrated, and the evening will include remarks by Alumni Association President Gary Calnek and CCNY President Vincent Boudreau.
Namath, Breslin and Hamill share the Finley Award which recognizes exemplary dedicated service to the City of New York and the nation, while enhancing the quality of life of its people. Following are brief bios of the recipients:
Joe Namath:
One of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, “Broadway Joe” Namath is best remembered for his performance in the New York Jets' stunning 16-7 upset of the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in 1968. It earned him MVP honors. Namath had backed up his pre-game "guarantee" of victory with a 206-yard passing effort. The previous year, he’d became the first quarterback to pass for more than 4,000 yards in one season. Namath’s pro career spanned from 1965 through 1977. He earned all-league accolades four times (1967, 1968, 1969, and 1972) and was named to the all-time AFL honor team in 1969. He was also elected to four AFL all-star games and one AFC-NFC Pro Bowl.
Jimmy Breslin (1928–2017):
Breslin was a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and one of the nation’s most prominent columnists. He began his career in New York City newsrooms in the 1940s, became a columnist in 1963 and rose to national prominence that tragic November covering the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. One of the best-informed journalists in the city, Breslin’s years of insightful reporting won him a Pulitzer in 1986, for “columns which consistently champion ordinary citizens.” Breslin was also a prolific author who wrote nearly two dozen books.
Pete Hamill (1935-2020):
Hamill was born in Brooklyn in 1935 and like Breslin, was a celebrated reporter and columnist. He’d edit both The New York Post and The Daily News, and author numerous best-selling books. He was both the quintessential New York Journalist and a celebrity, who wrote for films and television shows and occasionally appeared onscreen. “The Paper” (1994) and “The Insider” (1999) are two of the motion pictures he appeared in. Hamill won a Grammy Award in 1976 for his notes on Bob Dylan’s album “Blood on the Tracks.” He received a George Polk Career Award in 2014 for his lifetime contributions to journalism.
Herbert Rubin, Esq.:
Herbert Rubin attended NYU Law School after graduating from City College with a BA degree in 1938. He taught at NYU and Rutgers law schools following service in WWII, and then became a founding partner at the law firm now known as Herzfeld & Rubin. The firm is particularly distinguished in the fields of product liability and international trade. While insisting he is a legal generalist, Rubin is renowned as an appellate practitioner. In addition to the New York Trial and Appellate courts, he has argued in virtually all of the federal Circuit Courts of Appeal, as well as the US Supreme Court. He continues active litigation beyond his 102nd birthday. He is currently stymied only by the social distancing imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Contact Information
To register for the Alumni Association of CCNY’s 140th (Virtual) Gala, click here. For more information about the event or honorees, email David Covington, Executive Director, at
dcovington@ccnyalumni.org
, or call 212-650-5263.
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. 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 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.