Iona University Announces 2024 Trustees Scholarship Award Gala Honorees
Distinguished alumni and community leaders to be honored April 25
New Rochelle & Bronxville, N.Y. (February 2024) – Iona University will honor distinguished alumni and community leaders during its annual Trustees Scholarship Award Gala on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The event will take place at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.
Proceeds from the Trustees Scholarship Award Gala will support student scholarships. For more information and to purchase tickets, e-journal ads and other sponsorship opportunities, please visit the scholarship gala site.
This year, the 2024 Iona Legacy Award will be presented to Robert J. DeLuccia ’67, ’79MBA, co-founder and executive chairman of Acurx Pharmaceuticals; Edward R. McNally Jr. ’78, a leading business executive for over 40 years, including president and chief executive officer of the Star Marketing Services division of Omnicom; and Monica L. ’70 and John C. Judge ’71. Monica Judge has served as president of the Iona University Alumni Board of Directors and John Judge is vice president and chief financial officer of Coaches Cure CF.
“On behalf of Iona, I would like to congratulate Bob, Ed, Monica and John and thank them for their steadfast support,” said Iona President Seamus Carey, Ph.D. “Our distinguished alumni continue to champion the Iona mission and pave the way for future generations of Gaels. It is an honor to celebrate and recognize their achievements as we also raise important scholarship funds to support our students.”
Past honorees represent a “who’s who” of prominent and successful leaders, including His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan ’14H, Francis Cardinal Spellman, New York Governor Malcolm Wilson, U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, former New York Yankee Mariano Rivera P’15, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, and world-renowned Ice Bucket Challenge co-founder Pat Quinn ’06, among many others.
ABOUT THE 2024 HONOREES
Robert J. DeLuccia ’67, ’79MBA
Robert DeLuccia is co-founder and executive chairman of Acurx Pharmaceuticals. Acurx is a biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of antibiotics for infections caused by bacteria listed as priority pathogens by the WHO, CDC and USDA. The company was founded in 2017. Previously, Mr. DeLuccia was co-founder and executive chairman of Dipexium Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company focused on Ph3 clinical development of an antimicrobial peptide for diabetic foot infection.
Monica L. ’70 and John C. Judge ’71
Monica and John Judge have both been great ambassadors for Iona as members of the President’s Club, Ginkgo Society and Goal Club. Monica Judge served as past president of the Iona University Alumni Board of Directors. John Judge is vice president and chief financial officer of Coaches Cure CF, focused on raising awareness and funds to support Cystic Fibrosis (CF) research. He previously worked at Safilo America as senior vice president and CFO until his retirement in 2012.
Edward R. McNally Jr. ’78
Edward R. McNally Jr. spent over 40 years as a business executive. The last 30 years were with the Omnicom Group, a global marketing communications agency holding company, in increasingly challenging roles. His most recent 10-year term was as president and chief executive officer of the Star Marketing Services division of Omnicom, an agency group he engineered. Among other highlights, Ed endowed the McNally Family Scholarship at Iona starting in 1999 along with his father, Ed McNally Sr. ’51, and brother, Steve McNally ’94, to help enable current Iona students who demonstrate great promise but need financial assistance. Ed serves on the Advancement Committee of the Iona Board of Trustees. He is also involved in the mentor program at the Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.
ABOUT IONA
Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master's-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. Iona's 45-acre New Rochelle campus and 28-acre Bronxville campus are just 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. With a total enrollment of nearly 4,000 students and an alumni base of more than 50,000 around the world, Iona is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona is highly accredited, offering undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs. Iona students enjoy small class sizes, engaged professors and a wide array of academic programs across the School of Arts & Science; LaPenta School of Business; NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences; and Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Iona also continues to be recognized in prestigious national rankings. Most recently for 2025, Iona has been named one of the nation’s best colleges by The Princeton Review, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and others. Additionally, U.S. News & World Report recognized Iona as one of top for social mobility in the country, while Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) ranked an Iona degree in the top 5 percent nationally for long-term return on investment. Iona’s LaPenta School of Business, meanwhile, is also accredited by AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just 6 percent of business schools worldwide. In addition, The Princeton Review recognized Iona’s on-campus MBA program as a “Best Business School for 2024.” Iona also offers a fully online MBA program for even greater flexibility. In July 2021, Iona announced the establishment of the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences, which is now principally located on Iona’s Bronxville campus in collaboration with one of the nation’s top hospitals. Connecting to its Irish heritage, Iona also opened a new campus in County Mayo, Ireland, located on the historic 400-acre Westport House Estate. A school on the rise, Iona officially changed its status from College to University on July 1, 2022, reflecting the growth of its academic programs and the prestige of an Iona education.