Promotion, Appointments & Announcements – June 2018

Huinink to take helm at JFK T4
Roel Huinink (above) has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of JFKIAT, the company that manages Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, one of the most active air terminals in the United States with more than 21 million annual travelers.
Huinink will replace Gert-Jan de Graaff, who has served as president and CEO since 2014. He will start on August 1 and oversee day-to-day operations.
“Throughout my career, I’ve gained invaluable experiences across several areas of airport management,” said Huinink. “Having the opportunity to channel this expertise for this new role at the New York-area’s most active air terminals is a tremendous honor.”
Currently, Huinink serves as program director at The Royal Dutch Touring Club ANWB, a Netherlands-based organization offering a wide range of services in the areas of recreation and tourism.
Huinink currently sits on the advisory board of Norwegian-based Airport Retail Group, and is also a member of the board of directors of Rygge Sivile Lufthavn A/S, the operator of Moss Airport in Rygge, Norway.

Call of QCC honored by NYS
Queensborough Community College President Dr. Diane Call was recognized as an official Woman of Distinction for 2018 by the New York State Senate.
Call has served as president of QCC for five years, and her career spans four decades at Queensborough and the City University of New York in virtually all major areas of administration and academics.
As Provost, Dr. Call led the Academic Affairs Division to create a student-centered learning environment in collaboration with the faculty and Student Affairs colleagues.
Among her many outstanding achievements are programs for the recruitment and retention of faculty and a faculty development program. Call’s partnership with Student Affairs led to the implementation of the Freshman Academies for all full-time freshmen and the establishment of an assessment protocol to measure their success.
“Dr. Call fully demonstrates the impact a committed educational administrator can have on a school,” said State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, who recommended Call for the honor. “She has worked tirelessly to support countless students and faculty over her 40 years of service.”

Di Rocco joins Northwell staff
Dr. Alessandro Di Rocco has been appointed Northwell Health’s director of the Movement Disorders Program.
Di Rocco most recently served as the founding director of the NYU Langone Medical Center’s Marlene and Paolo Fresco Institute for Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders.
He has secured numerous grants to study Parkinson’s and movement disorders, highlighted by the $25 million he helped secure to fund the Fresco Institute.
Di Rocco, who earned his medical degree at the Universita’ di Genova, Facolta’ di Medicina e Chirurgia, in Genova, Italy, went on to complete his postgraduate training – including a residency in neurology – at the University of Pavia in Italy.
He followed that with a second neurology residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center, where he also served as chief resident. He is currently on the organizing committee of the World Congress of the International Association of Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, and has served on national and many international medical and scientific committees.

Bryer earns QC’s top honor
Barry Bryer, a corporate securities lawyer and renowned expert on mergers and acquisitions, was awarded the Queens College President’s Medal, the college’s highest administrative honor.
A 1969 cum laude graduate with a B.A. in Political Science, Bryer went on to receive his J.D. degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1972.
Combining his interest in securities markets and his legal acumen, Bryer embarked on a career as a corporate and securities lawyer focused primarily on mergers and acquisitions.
A partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz for 25 years, and thereafter a partner at Latham & Watkins LLP until his retirement in 2015, Bryer was recognized as a leading mergers and acquisitions lawyer and corporate governance expert. He was a featured “Dealmaker” in the American Lawyer.
Besides being chair of the Board and Executive Committee of the Queens College Foundation Board of Trustees and a member of the Legal Advisory Council of Sanctuary for Families, Bryer has served on the Ramaz School Board of Trustees, Park Avenue Synagogue Board of Trustees, and University of Virginia School of Law Alumni Council.
A member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Bryer has served on the Corporation Law Committee and on the Special Committee on Mergers, Acquisitions and Corporate Control Contests. He is also a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
“A prominent figure in business and legal circles, Barry Bryer has nonetheless found time to give back to his alma mater for 30 years,” said Queens College President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “But during this time of the #MeToo Movement, it is also with pride that we acknowledge his service as a member of the Legal Advisory Council of Sanctuary for Families, the leading service provider and advocate for survivors of domestic violence, sex trafficking, and related forms of gender violence.”
Bryer has served on the Corporation Law Committee and on the Special Committee on Mergers, Acquisitions and Corporate Control Contests.

Quontic’s Schnall honored by U of F

Steven Schnall, owner of Queens-based Quontic Bank and a member of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, was named the 2018 Emerging Alumni Entrepreneur by the University of Florida’s Warrington College.
Schnall, 51, is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for business startups and a track record of successful ventures across a variety of industries. He is the CEO, chairman and controlling shareholder of Quontic Bank, an “Inc. 5000” company based in Astoria.
Schnall purchased the skeleton of a failing bank in the wake of the 2008 credit crisis, recapitalized it, moved it from Long Island to Queens, and grew it to nearly $400 million in assets.
Today, Quontic Bank employs nearly 100 people at its Astoria headquarters and another 100 throughout the country. It also consistently ranks in the top 10 percent amongst its peers, in terms of financial performance, offers personal and business banking, as well as home mortgages.
Schnall also presently serves as CEO/owner of Realmor Capital, a real estate investment and development firm focused on both the luxury market in New York City. He is also chairman and co-owner of Fit Athletic Clubs, a chain of high-end gyms in Southern California.
Prior to launching the above ventures, Schnall was founder, CEO, president and chairman of New York Mortgage Trust, Inc., which he grew from a startup to a publicly traded mortgage REIT and national mortgage banking company with nearly 1,000 employees in 65 branch offices in 25 states and $1.5 billion in assets.
Schnall also co-founded Restaurant.com during the early days of the dot-com boom and grew it to nearly $100 million in annual revenue at its peak. He is also a founding director of Urban Angels, a non-profit which nourishes the homeless and serves more than 100,000 meals per year.
Schnall is also a director of The Arthur Project, a non-profit that addresses, through youth mentoring, a chronic lack of opportunity, guidance and feelings of self-worth needed to optimize their potential during the formative middle school years.