The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans will host a pair of local luminaries at their annual media luncheon on May 26 at Galleria Marchetti. Mary Ann Ahern will receive the Dante Award, given each year to a member of the Fourth Estate who has proven to be no timid friend to truth, and Robert Allegrini will receive the Dominic DiFrisco Lifetime Achievement Award, given to bridge builders inside and outside of the Italian-American community. Ahern is an Emmy award-winning political reporter for NBC 5 Chicago, and Allegrini is president of the National Italian American Foundation. (708-450-9050)

BOB SIROTT

Generations of Midwesterners have grown up with lifelong Chicagoan Bob Sirott, first as a top Chicago rock ’n’ roll DJ in the ’70s and later as a news anchor on CBS2, NBC5 and Chicago Tonight on PBS. Bob also worked as an anchor/ correspondent for the 1985 CBS-TV network newsmagazine “West 57th.”

Bob’s frequent broadcast partner is his wife, Marianne Murciano, who co-anchored the ground-breaking Emmy award-winning “Fox Thing In The Morning” on Fox32 in the ’90s.

Bob’s radio career began when he was 21. While working as a producer and writer at NBC Radio in Chicago, he landed a summer on-air job at WBBM-FM.  Two years later, the former legendary Chicago rock radio powerhouse WLS took notice of his popularity and hired him for their 2-6 p.m. shift, where Bob achieved great success for the next seven years before moving to television in 1980.

Bob currently hosts “Icons of the Ivy,” a series of interviews with Chicago Cubs legends on the Cubs Marquee Sports Network. And after several previous stints on WGN Radio, he’s back home on “Chicago’s Very Own” AM 720 weekday mornings 6-10.

Bob is a graduate of Chicago’s Columbia College.

Of his many awards and achievements, he considers being the voice of the coal mine exhibit at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry his proudest accomplishment.

JESSE WHITE

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White is Illinois’ 37th Secretary of State. White was first elected to the office in 1998 and won landslide victories in 2002, in which he won all 102 counties, and again in 2006 and 2010. On November 4, 2014, White was re-elected to a record-breaking fifth term, winning another landslide victory by a 2-to-1 margin in which he earned over 2.3 million votes statewide – more than 230,000 votes than any other statewide constitutional candidate. White became Illinois’ longest serving Secretary of State on May 30, 2014.

The Illinois Secretary of State’s office is the largest and most diverse office of its kind in the nation, providing more direct services to the people of Illinois than any other public agency. White’s office issues state ID cards, vehicle license plates and titles; registers corporations; enforces the Illinois Securities Act; administers the Organ/Tissue Donor Program; licenses drivers; and maintains driver records. As State Librarian, Secretary White oversees the State Library and literacy programs, and as State Archivist, he maintains records of legal or historic value.

Under White’s leadership, customer service has been improved through the use of technology as well as modernizing and streamlining operations. Wait times in facilities are shorter than ever before. Illinois has become a national leader in road safety as White strengthened DUI laws, reformed the CDL program and overhauled teen driving guidelines. As a result, traffic fatalities have decreased, with drunk driving deaths down nearly 50 percent and teen driving deaths reduced by 51 percent. In 2014, White was inducted into the Illinois High School & College Driver Education Association Hall of Fame. Prior to his election as Secretary of State, White served as Cook County Recorder of Deeds — a job to which he was first elected in 1992 and re-elected in 1996. Before that, he served 16 years in the Illinois General Assembly, representing the most culturally, economically and racially diverse district in Illinois.

In 1959, White founded the internationally known Jesse White Tumbling Team to serve as a positive alternative for children residing in and around the Chicago area. Since its inception, more than 17,500 young men and women have performed with the team. White has spent 58 years working as a volunteer with the team to help kids stay away from gangs, drugs, alcohol and smoking, and to help set at-risk youth on the path to success. The program has received international praise.

This year the team will make more than 1,500 performances using seven units, consisting of 225 young men and women. Currently, there are 51 members enrolled in college. In 2014, the Chicago Park District opened the Jesse White Community Center and Field House in honor of White’s lifelong contributions to the community. In addition, a school in Hazel Crest, Illinois, was recently renamed the Jesse C. White Learning Academy, and a Chicago street was designated Jesse White Way in honor of White.

White served our country as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division and as a member of the Illinois National Guard and Reserve. He played professional baseball with the Chicago Cubs organization, which was followed by a 33-year career with the Chicago Public Schools as a teacher and administrator.

Jesse White earned his Bachelor of Science from Alabama State College (now Alabama State University) in 1957, where he was a two-sport athlete earning all-conference honors in baseball and basketball. In May 1995, White was inducted into the Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame. He was an all-city baseball and basketball player at Chicago’s Waller High School (now Lincoln Park High School) and was inducted into the Chicago Public League Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in June 1995. In 1999, he was inducted into the Alabama State University Sports Hall of Fame. Born in Alton, Illinois, he now lives on Chicago’s Near North Side. White has two daughters, Glenna and Lorraine, and two grandchildren, Jesse and Susan.

The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans marked the 700^th anniversary of the passing of Dante Alighieri with a standout media luncheon on Sept. 14. Galleria Marchetti in Chicago was bursting at the seams with journalists, elected officials and community leaders who had come to honor CBS President and General Manager Jennifer Lyons and Chicago attorney Antonio Romanucci. Lyons was the recipient of the divine poet’s namesake award, while Romanucci accepted the inaugural Dominic DiFrisco Lifetime Achievement Award.

Seated at the dais along with the honorees were past Dante Award recipients Dina Bair, Greg Caputo, Janet Davies, Mary Laney, Vince Gerasole, Alan Krashesky and Larry Wert. Also at the head table were John Idler, Allison Pure-Slovin and Lissa Druss, all of whom had received the Filippo Mazzei Award, given in years past to luminaries in the world of public affairs.

Rounding out the dais were Italian Consul General Thomas Botzios and his wife, Elisa; JCCIA President Ron Onesti, Executive Director Jo Ann Serpico and Scholarship Chairman Doug Olson; Avanti Group President and master of ceremonies Pasquale Gianni; Columbus Day Parade Co-Chairs Jeffrey and Lisa Sanfilippo; the Rev. Richard Fragomeni, rector of Our Lady of Pompeii; and National Italian American Foundation President Robert Allegrini.

Onesti opened the program by saluting members of the media, proclaiming, “They are the unsung heroes who must keep their composure during the most difficult of times. We thank you for your commitment to the truth.” Gianni sang Dante’s praises; Serpico thanked the Marchetti family, owners of the Como Inn and Galleria Marchetti, for their hospitality over the decades; and Olson presented this year’s John Fischetti Scholarship to University of Kentucky journalism major Nicholas Carlucci.

Gianni fondly recalled his grandfather, the late Dominic DiFrisco, who ran the event for nearly a half century, then turned the microphone over to Romanucci. “I was really thrilled when so many people asked me, ‘What’s the 7 on your lapel?’” Romanucci shared. “The No. 7 is something that I work for every day of my life, and that’s justice. The 7 represents the seventh amendment, and that’s the right to a civil jury trial.”

Lyons was introduced by Bair, a longtime friend and former co-worker at WGN-TV, who spoke of the honoree’s unflagging courage and integrity. Lyons noted, “During my 28 years in Chicago, I have attended many Dante luncheons and feel touched to join the ranks of all of these esteemed journalists who I’ve long admired. I loved (hearing Dominic’s) stories of service. He exuded pride and love of family, faith and community: something I share deeply.”

— Photos by Pat Specchio

Article and photos provided by the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans

The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans honored Jennifer Lyons and Antonio M. Romanucci at this year’s Dante Awards luncheon. The organization provided these profiles.

JENNIFER LYONS

Jennifer Lyons received the Dante Award. She is a celebrated television news executive with more than 30 years of experience, most of it in Chicago, the third largest television market in the United States.

The former vice president of news for WGN America, Lyons oversaw the design and buildout of a 24-hour newsroom and studio and the creation and launch of a new national cable news outlet. She worked in a variety of capacities at WGN-TV starting in 1993, including news director from 2014-20 and assistant news director from 2008-14.

An innovative executive, Lyons led the conversion of a traditional broadcast newsroom at WGN into a successful multi-platform digital operation by enabling and organizing the distribution of content to a variety of digital outlets. Under her leadership, WGN-TV became the first station in the market to live stream its news programming online and to all mobile devices.

Lyons led the expansion to multiple hours of news at WGN. Prior to that, she was executive producer of the WGN Morning and Midday News. She began her career in Davenport and Des Moines, Iowa, working as a photographer, live truck operator and producer for KWQC-TV and WHO-TV.

Lyons earned a bachelor of arts degree in journalism and mass communication from Iowa State University. She has earned a Chicago/Midwest Emmy and Silver Dome Award from the Illinois Broadcasters Association, she was named News Director of the Year by Broadcasting & Cable, and she was inducted into the Silver Circle by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Lyons is active in the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls Leader Council and a member of The Chicago Network.

ANTONIO ROMANUCCI

Antonio M. Romanucci received the inaugural Dominic DiFrisco Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a founding partner at the law firm Romanucci & Blandin, a national trial practice representing victims of negligence, abuse and wrongful death arising from corporate negligence, civil rights actions, business interruption, medical malpractice, mass torts and class actions, as well as police misconduct.

A past president of the Justinian Society of Lawyers and the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Romanucci currently serves on the Chicago Bar Association’s Board of Managers, the Public Justice Board of Directors, and holds multiple leadership roles with the American Association for Justice.

Romanucci has been named a Top 100 Super Lawyer in Illinois for the past 13 years and a Best Lawyer by U.S. News and World Report since 2013. He was listed among the ‘New Power 30’ in the February 2021 issue of Chicago magazine for his work in securing justice for George Floyd and his many contributions to justice in the Chicago area. He maintains a perfect Martindale-Hubble AV rating and an AVVO rating of 10/10.

Often called upon as an expert, Romanucci appears regularly on local and national television news stations and programs, including CNN, CBS This Morning, and Chicago’s ABC, NBC, CBS, WGN and FOX. He also contributes regularly to stories in the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Associated Press and print news outlets, commenting on his own cases, as well as other high profile legal matters and trends throughout the country.

Romanucci is a founding chairman of the Midwest Brain Injury Clubhouse, which is devoted to optimizing the lives and recovery of people affected by brain injuries or strokes. He is also the founder of the Justinian Society of Lawyers Charitable Endowment Fund, which awards thousands of dollars annually to organizations that assist the needy.

John Idler, president and general manager of ABC7 Chicago, and Alison Pure-Slovin, Midwest director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, were honored at the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans’ annual media luncheon on May 18.

Idler will be given the Dante Award, which is bestowed on a member of the media who lives up to Dante Alighieri’s call to be no timid friend to truth; Pure-Slovin will receive the Mazzei Award, which is presented to a person who shows extraordinary skills in the world of public affairs.

Dante Award Recipient John Idler

“As a longtime supporter of the work and mission of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, I understand the tremendous significance of those chosen to receive the Dante Award,” Idler says. “Past recipients loom large in this city, so I’m both proud and grateful to be recognized with this distinguished honor.”

Idler was appointed president and general manager of ABC 7 Chicago (WLS-TV) in June 2012. In addition to overseeing the broadcast station, Idler manages Chicago’s Live Well, Laff TV affiliate, abc7chicago.com as well as the station’s mobile and other new media businesses. This is his third time working at ABC 7; previously Idler served in key sales positions. Most recently, Idler helped orchestrate a deal to bring 25 Chicago Cubs baseball games to ABC 7, the first time since 1949 Cubs games have aired on ABC 7. He also led in the development of an ABC 7 primetime newscast on WCIU-TV, the first 7 p.m. news broadcast to air in Chicago.

Mazzei Award Recipient Alison Pure-Slovin

“I am so humbled and honored to be the receipt of the prestigious Filippo Mazzei Public Affairs Award,” says Pure-Slovin. “Like Filippo Mazzei, my organization’s namesake, Simon Wiesenthal, fought for independence and freedom for all, which is emblematic of the strong union between the Jewish and Italian communities.”

A leader in the human rights community, Pure-Slovin has been the director of the Midwest region of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for nearly five years. In 2015 she was appointed by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner to the Holocaust and Genocide Commission—a group that provides guidance on Holocaust and genocide education and commemoration across the state. Pure-Slovin was also the first female president of the Standard Club, a 150 year-old private club that boasts some of Chicago’s most well known Jewish men and women as members. Prior to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, for ten years she was the Midwest regional director for Shaare Zedek Medical Center, one of the largest and oldest hospitals in Jerusalem.

The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans presented ABC7 Vice President and News Director Jennifer Graves with its prestigious Dante Award at its annual media luncheon. The honor is bestowed each year on a member of the media who lives up to Dante Alighieri’s call to be no timid friend to truth.

A member of the ABC7 team since 1992 and its news director since 2001, Graves has earned numerous journalism awards. She has been a major contributor to the station’s cutting-edge technological advances, including the recent installation of ABC7’s state-of-the art news set; an all-digital newsroom; high-definition news; and the development of the historic broadcast facility, the State Street Studio.

Lissa Druss Christman of Serafin & Associates will receive the third annual Filippo Mazzei Award at the luncheon. Named after the Revolutionary War patriot who inspired the phrase “all men are created equal,” the award is presented to a person who shows extraordinary skills in the world of public affairs.

A regular contributor on Chicago television and radio stations, Christman spent 21 years in broadcasting as a nine-time Emmy award-winning news and sports television producer. She ended her television career as the executive producer at Comcast SportsNet Chicago, winning the 2009 Chicago Journalism Award in Sports.

Chicago Tribune Editorial Page Editor R. Bruce Dold received the Dante Award. The honor is bestowed each year on a member of the media who lives up to Dante Alighieri’s call to be no timid friend to truth.

U.S. Senator Mark Kirk received the Mazzei Award. Named after the Revolutionary War patriot who inspired the phrase “all men are created equal,” the award is presented to a person who shows extraordinary skills in the world of public affairs.

Dante Award

R. Bruce Dold is the editorial page editor of the Chicago Tribune. He supervises the opinion pages of Chicago’s largest newspaper.

Dold was named editor of the editorial page in 2000. Under his direction the Tribune received the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The board has earned a dozen national awards during his tenure, including the 2002 and 2008 Distinguished Writing Award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors. The board has conducted campaigns to bring more ethical and transparent government in Chicago and Illinois, to improve public education and to abolish the death penalty. In 2008, the Tribune endorsed Barack Obama, marking the first time in history the 163-year-old Tribune had endorsed the Democratic Party nominee for president.

Dold joined the editorial board in 1990 and was named deputy editor in 2005. He received the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 1994 for a series on the death of a three-year-old boy and the failure of the juvenile court and child welfare system to save the child. His writing contributed to sweeping reforms in the protection and care of abused children in Illinois.

He received the 2009 Sigma Delta Chi Award for editorial writing from the Society of Professional Journalists and the 1999 National Journalism Award for Commentary from the Scripps Howard Foundation. He has also been honored with the 1999 Herman Kogan Award for Commentary from the Chicago Bar Association. He was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2009. He has served four times as a Pulitzer Prize juror, chairing the Commentary jury in 2014. His work has been honored by numerous civic organizations.

Dold joined the Tribune in 1978 as a reporter. He covered the 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns and the mayoral campaigns of Harold Washington and Richard M. Daley.

He is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the National Conference of Editorial Writers. He served on the board of the Illinois First Amendment Center.

Dold received a Bachelor of Science in Journalism in 1977 and a Master of Science in Journalism in 1978 from Northwestern University and has served as an instructor at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. He and his wife, Eileen, have two grown daughters.

Mazzei Award

Mark Steven Kirk of Highland Park won simultaneous elections to the U. S. Senate on Nov. 2, 2010. A special election allowed Kirk to complete the term of his predecessor, while the general election seated him for a six-year Senate term commencing on Jan. 4, 2011.

He serves on the Senate Committees on Appropriations; Banking, Housing and Urban Development: Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; and the Special Committee on Aging.

Kirk was first elected to serve the people of Illinois in 2000, winning a U.S. House seat representing the 10th Congressional District. He was re-elected four times, serving until his election to the Senate. Prior to his 10 years in Congress, Kirk served on the staff of Congressman John Porter, as a special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State, and as counsel to the U.S House International Relations Committee.

Born in Champaign, Kirk received his B.A. from Cornell University, his M.S. from the London School of Economics and his J.D. from Georgetown University. He has served in the U. S. Navy Reserve since 1989, currently holding the rank of commander.