Distinguished Graduates
Academy alumni are everywhere – in every ZIP code on Staten Island and most states across the country. While we could never showcase every graduate who has left the Academy and gone on to great things, the following list represents the wide breadth of interests, careers, and futures that our graduates have created for themselves.
- Adriaan Lanni '90
- Thomas Adinolfi '97
- Jay Saccaro '90
- Sarah Kate Ellis '89
- Caroline Diamond Harrison '82
- Edgar Moreno '78
- Damian Slattery '76
- Luis G. Moreno '73
- Daniel L. Master '71
- Joseph Rallo '67
- Michael Ekin Pearson '66
- Richard F. Larkin '60
- John Peoples '50
- Richard E. Diamond '49
- Walter E. Badenhausen, Jr. '48
- Erna Burry Fredrik Gerber '43
Adriaan Lanni '90
Touroff-Glueck Professor of Law
Biography
Adriaan Lanni teaches Criminal Law, Criminal Adjudication, the Criminal Justice Workshop, and various legal history courses on ancient Greek and Roman law. Her publications include Law and Justice in the Courts of Classical Athens (Cambridge University Press, 2006), Law and Order in Ancient Athens (Cambridge University Press, 2016), and several articles on ancient law and the modern criminal jury. Before joining Harvard Law School in 2005, she was a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. She clerked for Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Dana Fabe of the Alaska Supreme Court. She received a B.A., summa cum laude, in Classical Civilization from Yale University, an M.Phil. in Classics from Cambridge University, where she was a Marshall Scholar, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and a Ph.D. in History from the University of Michigan. She has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and the Loeb Classical Library Foundation.
Thomas Adinolfi '97
Thomas Adinolfi '97 founded AuctionsEast, New York's foremost eBay store. He was considered for Forbes Small Business Enterprise Award, featured in an Industry Magazine piece about entrepreneurs under 30, held the first-ever eBay Roadshow, and is noted in two nationally published books about eBay. Thomas has also been featured in the Staten Island Advance for the listing and sale of the Quaker Gift Shop for $1.15 million and in the story "Collecting One Oddity at a Time."
Jay Saccaro '90
Mr. James K. Saccaro, also known as Jay, has been Chief Financial Officer at Baxter International Inc. since June 2015 and its Executive Vice President since May 2017.
He joined Baxter International in 2002 as the Manager of Strategy for its BioScience business and, over the years, assumed positions of increasing responsibility, including VP of Financial Planning and VP of Finance for operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Also at Baxter International, Mr. Saccaro served as Corporate Officer and Treasurer from March 2011 to September 2013, as Executive Officer since 2013, and as Corporate Vice President from June 2015 until 2017. Mr. Saccaro served as the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. from December 2013 to July 2014.
He held strategy and business development positions at Clear Channel Communications and the Walt Disney Company. Mr. Saccaro received a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and a Master's Degree in Engineering-Economic Systems from Stanford University.
Sarah Kate Ellis '89
Sarah Kate Ellis was named President and CEO of GLAAD in January 2014 after a successful career as an award-winning media executive and communications strategist.
In short order, Ellis has refocused GLAAD's crucial advocacy to accelerate acceptance of the LGBT community through a variety of compelling and effective initiatives, campaigns, and programs.
A powerful communicator, Ellis has used GLAAD's position as the nation's leading media advocacy organization to demand and generate coverage of LGBT Russians during the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. She worked closely with Facebook to expand the social network's gender options to be more inclusive of transgender and gender non-conforming users. Ellis challenged the famed NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade ban on LGBT participation leading two major sponsors, Heineken and Guinness, to pull their support, ultimately bringing inclusion to the historic parade. And during the 2014 World Cup, Ellis led an effort to demand that FIFA address anti-LGBT slurs at the games, leading broadcasters ESPN and Univision to condemn such hateful language on the air to worldwide audiences. A forceful spokesperson for LGBT acceptance, Ellis' commentary and statements have appeared in influential media, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, TIME, Vanity Fair, and hundreds of other outlets. Read more on Sarah Kate Ellis here.
Caroline Diamond Harrison '82
Caroline Diamond Harrison is carrying on her father's legacy as the publisher of the Staten Island Advance. She began her career at the Advance in 1984 as a college intern in the Lifestyle Department. Two years later, she joined the Times-Picayune as an executive-in-training. Caroline has also served as the Advance and the Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News general manager. She was re-elected to a two-year term on the Board of Directors of the Newspaper Association of America, representing 2,000 newspapers in the US and Canada.
Edgar Moreno '78
Edgar Moreno is the Assistant Director for Domestic Operations in the US Department of State. As the Assistant Director of Domestic Operations, Edgar Moreno is responsible for managing and directing almost all DS (Diplomatic Security) activities within the United States, including all field offices, criminal investigations, counterintelligence, and protection operations. Since joining the Bureau of Diplomatic Security in 1986, Mr. Moreno has worked as a Special Agent in DS's Washington Field Office, as a Program Officer for the Anti-Terrorism Assistance program, and Assistant Regional Security Officer in Madrid, Spain, where he helped provide security assistance and coordination for the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics. Mr. Moreno earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science from the American University in Washington, DC.
Damian Slattery '76
Damian Slattery is a screenplay writer. His credits include A Day in October 1992, a story about 1943 Copenhagen coming to a boil as Nazi Germany absorbs Denmark into its deadly arena, as well as the upcoming Harry and the Butler. A well-rounded alumnus, Mr. Slattery is a 2009 inductee into the Staten Island Academy Alumni Athletic Hall of Fame.
Luis G. Moreno '73
After graduating from the Academy, Luis earned a BA in History at Fordham University and an MA in Education at Kean College. He joined the US Foreign Service in 1983 and began a long career dedicated to serving our nation's interests worldwide. First assigned to posts in Colombia and Nicaragua, Moreno then served as deputy director of the Narcotics Affairs Section at the embassy in Peru, where he managed a coca eradication project. As Narcotics Affairs Director at the US Mission in Colombia from 1997-2001, he was instrumental in planning and implementing the anti-drug trafficking effort "Plan Colombia." While serving as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, he accompanied ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to the airport after a military coup. He served tours in Mexico, Israel, Iraq, and Spain before being confirmed as the US Ambassador to Jamaica in 2014. Ambassador Moreno has received several performance and honor awards, including the Department of State's James Clement Dunn Award for Excellence in Diplomacy, the Department of State's Heroism Award, and a Presidential Meritorious Service Award. In 2017, he retired as Ambassador to Jamaica and currently serves on the Foreign Service Grievance Board.
Daniel L. Master '71
Daniel L. Master is the Chief Assistant District Attorney in Richmond County. Mr. Master is also an adjunct law professor at Fordham Law School and New York Law School. He taught full-time at Boston College Law School, the University of California, and NYU School of Law. Before working at the DA’s Office, Mr. Master was an associate attorney at Shea & Gould and counsel to the Borough President of Staten Island.
Joseph Rallo '67
Joseph Rallo is currently the Commissioner of Higher Education for Louisiana. Before accepting this position in January 2015, he served as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for Texas Tech University System in Lubbock, Texas, beginning in May 2012. Before being named Vice Chancellor at Texas Tech, Rallo was the President of Angelo State University in Texas, and prior to that, he was the Provost and Academic Vice President at Western Illinois University. He has many years of experience in higher education. Rallo was director of the Colorado Institute for Technology Transfer and Implementation from 2001-03; Dean of the College and Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs from 1999-2003; and Dean of Business at Ferris State University in Michigan from 1995-99. Rallo earned his law degree in 1976 from Western New England College. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Syracuse University in 1978 and 1980, respectively.
Michael Ekin Pearson '66
Michael Ekin Pearson is an artist and illustrator. She has designed artwork in Europe, the East Coast, Midwest, and the Pacific. Her work has been in over forty solo exhibitions as well as group and juried shows, winning several awards. She owned and operated a fine art gallery for eight years. Michael has served as a juror for watercolor and mixed media shows and has taught adult classes and workshops.
Richard F. Larkin '60
Richard F. Larkin is a technical director of not-for-profit accounting and auditing for BDO USA, LLP, in McLean, VA. Previously, he was the technical director of the Not-for-Profit Industry Services Group in the national office of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Larkin is a certified public accountant with over forty-nine years of experience serving not-for-profit organizations and is a co-author of the fourth, fifth, and sixth editions of Financial and Accounting Guide for Not-for-Profit Organizations. He graduated from Harvard College and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.
John Peoples '50
John Peoples was the director of Fermilab from 1989 until 1999. Peoples' physics pursuits at Nevis and Brookhaven Laboratories and Columbia and Cornell Universities brought him to National Accelerator Laboratory (NAL) in 1971, where he has remained for his exciting and productive career. As Director, John took up the banner to upgrade the Tevatron with the Main Injector and began to build local, state, and federal support for Fermilab's future. In September 1994, Fermilab discovered evidence of the top quark. From 1993 to 1997, John was Chairman of the International Committee for Future Accelerators (ICFA), which marshaled the support of the world high energy physics community for the construction of the Large Hadron Collider. Stepping down as Laboratory Director in June 1999, John's research interests steered him into the experimental astrophysics’ domain. He also was the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Director from June 1998 to June 2003.
Richard E. Diamond '49
Noted as one of the outstanding members of the Class of 1948, Richard held the post of President of the Student Council and served as Business Manager of The Quill. After graduating from "Staten Island Day School," he attended Cornell University and joined the Staten Island Advance full-time in 1956. He was Associate Publisher of the paper for 23 years, training under his uncle, Samuel I. Newhouse, and became Publisher in 1979. Mr. Diamond oversaw the construction of the Advance building in Grasmere, launched the Sunday Advance, and guided the paper through sweeping changes in production through the 70s, 80s, and 90s, including expanding the building and installing a state-of-the-art electronic printing press. Mr. Diamond also was a crucial leader in the Newhouse Newspapers group. He began the Advance Women of Achievement program in 1962 and celebrated the Advance's 100th year of publication in 1986. Through Mr. Diamond's efforts, the Newhouse Gallery was established at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden. He chaired the Staten Island Academy Board and served as a Staten Island University Hospital Trustee. Over the years, he received numerous awards, including the Albert B. Maniscalco Award from the Island's Borough President, a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Wagner College, and Project Hospitality's Eleanor Proske Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to the Poor.
Walter E. Badenhausen, Jr. '48
As an outstanding class leader and scholar at "Staten Island Day School," Walter excelled on the fields by lettering in soccer, basketball, and tennis. He performed on the stage in the school's dramatic productions. Walter went to Hamilton College and received his medical degree from Hahnemann Medical College (Drexel University), after which he began his residency at the University of Louisville Hospital and ultimately settled into life in Kentucky. Now retired, Dr. Badenhausen was a partner in the practice of Ellis & Badenhausen Orthopaedics, PSC. "Dr. B," as he was affectionately known in training rooms across the region, served as the team doctor for more than a dozen college and professional sports teams. He was recognized as the "Sports Medicine Person of the Year" in 2003 by the Kentucky Athletic Trainers Society, is a 2005 inductee in the Mason-Dixon Athletic Club Hall of Fame, and in 2011, was inducted as a Bellarmine University Knights Legend. He also helped organize and chair the Greater Louisville Medical Society, formerly the Jefferson County Medical Society.
Erna Burry Fredrik Gerber '43
Erna Burry Fredrik Gerber is a Tony Award-winning producer for the show Travesties. She was also the stage manager, producer, and director of more than twenty Broadway productions, including Inherit the Wind, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, The Royal Family, Milk and Honey, and Too True to Be Good.