Profiles

Dottoressa Marina Lenza is the new director of the Education Office of the Italian Consulate of Chicago. Lenza was born near l’Aquila in the Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e dei Monti della Laga, the largest mountainous area of Abruzzo. She graduated from La Sapienza, the University of Rome, and has held roles in the Ministry of Education as a teacher and didactic director. She has also worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the administration and coordination of Italian educational and cultural institutes, as well as with Italian training systems, particularly language and culture courses abroad. Lenza’s goals …

The first Italian American to earn the Medal of Honor, Luigi Palma di Cesnola was instrumental in establishing the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Cavalliere Emmanuele Pietro Paolo Maria Luigi Palma di Cesnola would never be mistaken for the “Modern Major General,” Gilbert and Sullivan’s satirical take on the overly educated officers of 19th-century England. While Cesnola didn’t know everything “vegetable, animal and mineral,” he knew enough about the martial, pedagogical and archeological to more than get by. Cesnola led an amazing life, fighting wars on three continents, marrying an American blue blood and conducting groundbreaking archaeological digs …

A veteran of the Ultimate Fighting Championship league, Roxanne Modafferi attributes her durability to her positive mental attitude. For mixed martial artist Roxanne Modafferi, it’s all about positive thinking. Nicknamed “The Happy Warrior,” the 38-year-old fights in the flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) based in Las Vegas, where she trains with the Syndicate team. She was ranked ninth in her division in June, with 25 wins, including four by knockout, and 19 losses, mostly by decision. She has appeared on two seasons of “The Ultimate Fighter,” a reality television series and mixed martial arts competition. Modafferi was …

Anna Bonavita nonprofit tour series uplifts the towns she explores while immersing visitors in a rejuvenating culinary, cultural and communal experience. Science launched Anna Bonavita’s career, but an appreciation for art led her to create an Italian film festival, a cultural center and a series of highly personal, connoisseur-level cultural tours to Italy. After she immigrated to the United States to work in Minneapolis, her quest for friendship, community and the familiar comforts of Italy propelled her to start the film festival. A random event stirred up a romance with an Italian senator, who came to Minneapolis to help her …

A dedicated community leader and standout public relations professional with deep Chicago roots, Robert Allegrini has been tapped to helm one of the nation’s preeminent Italian-American organizations. Like many Italian-American offspring of the Greatest Generation, Robert Allegrini had to find his way back to his roots. His mother was born in Italy, as were both of his paternal grandparents. But Allegrini’s father was a decorated veteran of World War II and a patriotic American who downplayed his ethnicity both at home and in public. He went off script at a key point in his son’s life, though, and that made …

  Dion Davi has ascended to the presidency of the Justinian Society of Lawyers. Joining Davi as Justinian officers are First Vice President Bruno Marasso, Second Vice President Michael D. Pisano, Third Vice President Brian Monico, Treasurer Catherine (Caifano) Locallo and Secretary Michael Bertucci. The following profiles were provided by the organization. Dion U. Davi — President Dion U. Davi is the Principal and founding attorney at the Davi Law Group, LLC, which concentrates in the areas of family, criminal and motorsports law. Dion is a past President of the Law Student Chapter of the Justinian Society of Lawyers and …

After more than two decades as a college basketball coach, Fran Fraschilla  is sharing his wealth of expertise as an analyst for ESPN. Growing up the oldest of seven children in Brooklyn, New York, Fran Fraschilla was hooked on basketball at an early age, like most of his peers. What Fraschilla, now 62, didn’t envision as a youngster was that his glory days wouldn’t come on the basketball court, but as a college coach and later as a TV analyst. “I like to talk. I like to entertain. I love to explain basketball to fans on TV,” says Fraschilla, who …

After guarding the Korean DMZ for most of his tour of duty in the Army during the Vietnam War, Luco Clarizio watched over fallen soldiers returning to the States, escorting their caskets from the airport to the cemetery. The oldest of two sons born to Dominick and Mary (Viola) Clarizio, Luco was brought into this world by his maternal grandmother in a fourth-floor walk-up on Loomis Street in Little Italy. “I was born blue, and my grandma put me in the oven,” he says. His parents were born in Chicago, and his grandparents emigrated from Calabria and Bari. The family …

An infectious disease specialist for more than a decade, Dr. Mia Taormina was ready for her close-up when WBEZ asked her to be its on-air coronavirus expert early last year. For the first decade of Dr. Mia Taormina’s career, work went pretty steadily as she saw patients and made rounds. She is one of only three doctors with an infectious disease specialty at DuPage Medical Group, a 750-doctor practice. In late 2019, Taormina and colleagues in her specialty were among the first to learn about a virus circulating in China. Within weeks, Taormina’s life kicked into high gear and stayed …

A rising star in the race walking world until a leg injury sidelined him, Michael Mannozzi has battled back into contention thanks to an indomitable drive and the support of his family. Michael Mannozzi earned 17 national race walking titles from 2010-16, so one might think placing fifth at the 2021 USA 50K National Championships in February would be a somewhat unremarkable result for him. Not so, the 35-year-old says. “That race, for me, was in all ways a success,” he says. “That was so rewarding.” That’s because Mannozzi, now a religious affairs airman at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in …