BIOS

Longtime Westchester Community College champion VANESSA WILLIAMS is one of the most respected and multi-faceted performers in the entertainment industry today, selling millions of records worldwide. Her work in music, film, television, and the Broadway stage has been recognized with 4 Emmy nominations, 11 Grammy nominations, a Tony nomination, 3 SAG award nominations and 7 NAACP Image Awards. Her platinum single, “Colors of the Wind,” from Disney’s “Pocahontas,” won the Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Her 2012 autobiography, You Have No Idea, co-written with her mother Helen Williams, was a N.Y. Times Best Seller and she released Bubble Kisses, her first picture book for children, in 2020. Most recently, she starred in the World Premiere of Selina Fillinger’s new Broadway comedy, directed by Tony Award-winner Susan Stroman. She is part of the star-studded panel of judges for RuPaul’s Paramount+ competition series, Queen of the Universe.

SINFOROSA “ROSE” TAN & WILLIAM H.P. KAUNG are receiving Westchester Community College Foundation’s Community Leadership Award. Rose and Bill are recognized for their decades of volunteer service to SUNY Westchester Community College and the community.  Rose is SUNY WCC Professor Emerita of Mathematics and held the Joseph & Sophia Abeles Endowed Chair for Mathematics. Bill is a proud U.S. Army veteran who worked for over 35 years in the life insurance Industry, last serving as Vice President of Operations. Rose and Bill are lifetime members of the OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, past presidents of the OCA Westchester & Hudson Valley Chapter, and recipients of the OCA National Unsung Hero Volunteer Award.  Bill’s many volunteer activities include the New York Immigration Coalition of Westchester, the Town of Greenburgh Human Rights Advisory Committee and the Pace University Lubin School Alumni Board.  Rose is a Board Member Emerita of the Syracuse University School of Education Board of Visitors and a member of the Board of the Evergreen Club, an organization of Chinese seniors.  Both Bill and Rose are active in the WCC Collegium for Lifelong Learning.

DORRY SWOPE, a Residential Real Estate Broker at The Corcoran Group in New York City, is receiving Westchester Community College Foundation’s Philanthropy Award. Over the years, Dorry and her family have made significant contributions to SUNY Westchester Community College as well as to conservation, arts, and health care organizations. Dorry serves as Co-Chair for the WCC Foundation’s President Council. Dorry is also an Honorary Trustee of Teatown Lake Reservation in Ossining. Dorry’s volunteer activities including serving on the Neighborhood Advisory Committee for Hunter College.

GEORGE LATIMER is receiving the Public Service Award in recognition of his 36 years of service to the people of Westchester County, and New York State. His political career began in 1987 when Latimer ran his first successful race for public office, earning him a seat on the Rye City Council. In 1991 he was elected to the Westchester County Board of Legislators, winning the 7^th District seat representing the City of Rye, the Village of Larchmont, and Mamaroneck Town and Village. Latimer was later elected to the New York State Assembly, and State Senate representing the 37^th District. Latimer went on to become the 9^th Westchester County Executive in 2018, and was elected to a second term in 2021, never losing an election after over three decades in public office. Using inclusion and openness as a foreground, he is fighting to make Westchester County a destination for all people to live, work and enjoy.

DAVID BERRY, a SUNY Westchester Community College alum, is receiving the Westchester Community College Foundation Viking Voyager Alumni Award. David is the founder of NomadCIO LLC, which provides interim Chief Information/Technology Officer and M&A leadership globally and in multiple industries ranging from aerospace to consumer products to fashion. He received the national “CIO 100 Award,” which recognizes the use of IT in innovative ways to deliver business value. Dave is a U.S. Navy veteran who has been an active volunteer mentor for veterans seeking to reenter the workforce.

We celebrate the launch of the 10^th Anniversary year of  DR. BELINDA S. MILES. Dr. Miles became the third president of Westchester Community College in January 2015. A native New Yorker, she is a nationally recognized educator and previously served as Provost and Executive Vice President of Access, Learning and Success at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland. Dr. Miles is a graduate of the York College/CUNY, where she received her B.A. degree, and Columbia University Teachers College, where she obtained her Doctorate in Education. Since her arrival, she has led teams that have doubled the graduation rate, expanded academic programs and pathways, and promoted an equitable, caring, and inclusive community with pathways for all members of our community who seek higher education and access to economic mobility.