Three Honored at 2022 Distinguished Alumni Awards Breakfast
September 26, 2022
The Hudson Valley Community College Foundation's annual Distinguished Alumni Awards Breakfast was held on Saturday, Sept. 24 in the college’s Siek Campus Center.
The program celebrates alumni for notable contributions within their career fields and communities. This year’s honorees are Dr. Brenda Robinson ’01, George Hermina, Esq. ‘85 and Dr. John Halpin ’82.
Dr. Brenda Robinson, a 2001 graduate of Hudson Valley Community College, has dedicated her life to helping those in underserved communities. Among her many contributions has been the creation and leadership of the Black Nurses Coalition to eliminate health care disparities and increase diversity in health care leadership. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Albany Public Library, leads the Arbor Hill Neighborhood Association and serves on the City of Albany Commission on Human Rights. She was recently honored as one of the Capital Region Chamber’s Woman of Excellence.
George Hermina, Esq., class of 1985, is an international law attorney in Laurel, Maryland. He has litigated numerous civil rights and consumer class action cases, including high profile cases involving age and race discrimination. He was recently appointed by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to the Trial Courts Judicial Nominating Commission of Maryland. In addition, he is the past president of the Howard County Bar Association, an adjunct professor at Stevenson University, an alternative dispute resolution volunteer for the District Court of Maryland and a member of the Howard County Bar Association Judicial Selection Committee.
Dr. John Halpin has had a distinguished career in academia. After earning his degree in Engineering Science from Hudson Valley Community College in 1982, he went on to New York University, where he earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Chemistry, a second master’s in Science Education, and his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry. He is currently a clinical professor of chemistry and the director of the dual degree program in Engineering at New York University, where he has received several teaching awards, including the prestigious Distinguished Teaching Award in 2017.
“Our alumni are proof of the excellent educational opportunities offered at Hudson Valley,” said Dr. Roger Ramsammy, president of Hudson Valley Community College. “The three alumni honored this year are exceptional leaders in their communities and serve as wonderful role models for our students today. They provide vision and promise, and an example of where a Hudson Valley education can take you. We are incredibly proud of their accomplishments, and even more proud to be their alma mater.”
For more information on alumni activities at Hudson Valley, contact the college’s Alumni Association at (518) 629-8077 or alumni@hvcc.edu.