CCM - County College of Morris

Alumni Awards

CCM Alumni Awards 2009

• Dr. Edward E. Boas, Jr.
• Neal A. Stanton
• Eileen G. Paragano
• Dr. Patricia M. Hurley
• Alumni Hall of Fame

The Alumni Award Recognition Program acknowledges graduates who meet specific criteria, including outstanding personal achievement, dedication to serving the public good, service to a segment of the college, and finally, for exceptional overall achievement in their professions, the Alumnus/a of the Year Award.

Dr. Edward E. Boas Jr.’70 received an A.A. in Humani­ties/Social Science from County College of Morris, a B.S. and M.Ed. from Trenton State College, and a C.A.G.S. and Ed.D. from Temple University. As an active member of CCM’s first class, he helped to start the Youngtown Edition and was involved in student government.

Dr. Boas was founder of the CCM Photo Club (and served as President), the Promethean, and the Auto Ralleye Club. After helping to establish the Drama Club, he acted in a CCM production of “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Dr. Boas recalls how, in those early days, the Henderson Hall cafeteria also served as the student activity center. He also fondly remembers driving his ‘57 Corvette, which he still owns, to the campus.

Today, Dr. Boas is a Pro­fessor of Computer Science, Data Processing and Electronics at Cecil College in North East Mary­land, where he has been involved in course design, development and instruction since 1985. He teaches advanced computer certification classes in computer networking, software applications, computer security, computer forensics and wireless technologies. He doesn’t hesitate to proudly acknowledge to his current students that he, too, started at a community college. 

In addition to his academic career, Dr. Boas has served as a private professional consultant for computer hardware and software applications in education, business and industry. He is President and Owner of International Computer Associates, Inc. Since 1978, his business has focused on personal computer sales, service and training worldwide. 

Dr. Boas has been awarded many scholarships and grants, presented with over 50 awards, received numerous certificates of appreciation, and served on more than 20 state and local committees. His 75 publications include books, articles and seminars.

Dr. Boas' interests extend well beyond academia and technology. His passion for living has included motorcycle racing, hang gliding, Olympic skiing, aviation, car collecting, and tooling around in his Enstrom 280C Shark 3 helicopter. When he’s not flying it for business or pleasure, his helicopter is parked at his privately owned Chesapeake City Heliport.

Dr. Boas graciously agreed to be interviewed for CCM's 40^th Anniversary video, which can be viewed in its entirety on www.ccm.edu and www.youtube.com. On September 29, he returned to CCM to attend the 40^th Anniversary Day celebration.

Dr. Boas and his family live in Chesapeake City, Maryland.

Alumni Achievement Award

Neal A. Stanton’89 received an A.S. degree in Business from CCM and a B.S. in Business Management from Rutgers University. He co-founded Consultedge, Inc. in 2000 and serves as its President and CEO. Consultedge Inc., a premier communications integration organization, has offices located in Florida, Michigan, New York City, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Texas. It is the leading platinum Avaya Business Partner specializing in IP telephony, converged telephony solutions and services.

Stanton is responsible for all aspects of Consultedge's strategy, operations, and execution, including mergers and acquisitions. His focus on integrity, execution, and professionalism sets the tone for the organization and has led to its rapid growth.  Consultedge has been named to CRN Magazine’s annual list of the nation’s 100 fastest growing technology solution providers each year since 2005.  From 2005 to 2008, Consultedge also was named to NJBiz’s annual Fast 50, which recognizes the state’s fastest growing companies across all business sectors.

Prior to founding Consultedge, Stanton served as a Director at AlphaNet Solutions, a $190 million data integrator, where he grew the telecommunications division by 500% in less than two years. Stanton was also a founder of Flagship One Communications, a turnkey provider of voice communications technologies. The company’s rapid growth, under Stanton’s leadership as President helped to enable its merger into AlphaNet Solution.

An industry veteran with more than 15 years of experience, Stanton was honored with NJBiz’s 2006 Forty Under 40 award, which recognizes exceptional business and community achievements by young business leaders. He also was a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in both 2007 and 2008. He serves on the Avaya Business Partner Council and represents the US channel community as co-chair of the Avaya Services Sub-Committee.

Neal lives in Bridgewater, New Jersey with his wife Maria and their two children Nicholas and Alexandra. He enjoys coaching Little League, reading business and spy novels, and visiting favorite spots such as Aruba and Florence, Italy.

Alumni Humanitarian Award

Patricia M. Hurley, Ph.D., R.N. ’70 received an A.A.S. in Nurs­ing from CCM, a B.S.N. from William Paterson, an M.A. in Psy­chiatric-Mental Health Nursing and a Ph.D. in Nursing Research from New York University.  She was one of the first group of alumni chosen for the CCM “I Start­ed Right” billboard campaign, and was a recipi­ent of the 1993 NJCCC Excellence Award as CCM Outstanding Alumna.

Dr. Hurley was appointed to the faculty at NYU in 1979 after completing her Ph.D. there. At the dawn of the HIV epidemic, she pioneered a faculty group that worked closely with the Gay Men's Health Crisis and received multiple federal grants to educate health care professionals in the New York area about HIV and AIDS. 

In 1983, the National Institute of Mental Health issued a call for proposals to provide care for gay men afflicted with AIDS. NYU-Nursing was funded to educate health professionals and hospital personnel in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Additional funding from the Bureau of Health Professionals quickly followed. Funding continued, and over the next seven years, more than 45,000 health professionals and hospital workers attended programs throughout the targeted area.    

Dr. Hurley is Professor Emerita at the Rutgers College of Nursing, where she served since 1993 as professor of nursing, acting dean, and di­rector of research and grant development. Her research and clinical interests there included HIV/AIDS, Home Health Care, and Health Promotion and Prevention. She has authored numerous articles that have appeared in a variety of nursing publications.

Alumni Service Award

Eileen G. Paragano ’91 earned an A.A. degree in Humanities/Social Science with highest honors from CCM and was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa and Psi Beta Honor societies. Her decision to go back to school later in life proved to be both a unique and challenging experience. Eileen remembers that attending classes with much younger students was, at first, “awkward.” However, with the kindness, consideration and support of  the students and professors, she began to feel comfortable and quickly became a part of the CCM family. It was this sense of acceptance that gave Eileen the strength and confidence she needed to complete her CCM journey.

Eileen has been employed as a bookkeeper for the law firm of Paragano & Richlan PC in Bernardsville, New Jersey for the past 18 years. She is a trustee of the Paragano Family Foundation, a charitable organization she and her husband Larry established in 1993. The foundation, which supports health and welfare, education, religious and social causes, has helped organizations dedicated to fighting drug abuse, child abuse, hunger and domestic violence. The homeless and disabled have also benefited from the work of the Paragano Family Foundation. Recently, the Paraganos established an endowed scholarship at CCM Foundation to support students studying broadcasting or media.

In 2009, Paragano was elected to the CCM Foundation Board of Directors. She has been actively involved in her community as a business person, a volunteer and a philanthropist for the last 35 years. 

As a lifetime member of the National Council of Jewish Women-Essex Chapter, Paragano has held the positions of secretary and treasurer, and served as chair and as a member of numerous committees. She assisted the Livingston Welcome Wagon Club in her roles as treasurer, vice-president/programming and president in the mid 1970’s.

Paragano and her husband live in Bernardsville, New Jersey.