12 Good Men

Ronald McDonald House Pays Tribute

The Ronald McDonald House Charities honored 12 outstanding men whose community involvement, civic service and commitment to one or more South Florida charities have earned them this recognition.

Alex Adams

Alexander (Alex) Adams is a Senior Vice President of Northern Trust, NA and Managing Director of a wealth advisory team in Miami, Florida. He has worked in banking since graduate school and has been with Northern Trust since 1995. Mr. Adams volunteers his time for different civic and charitable organizations in our community. He is currently on the Board and the Executive Committee of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of South Florida, where he has been involved for over five years. He also serves on the Campaign Cabinet of the United Way of Miami and the Hispanic Advisory Council of Big Brothers-Big Sisters. An avid boater, Mr. Adams lives in Pinecrest with his wife, Maite, and their three children.

James L. Ferraro

James Ferraro is a lawyer whose areas of expertise include product liability, wrongful death, personal injury and medical malpractice. He received the largest compensatory award in the State of Florida in 1995 for a mesothelioma case, and his firms in Miami and Cleveland currently represent 40,000 asbestos claimants. He has combined his interest in sports with his philanthropy efforts and is the majority owner of the Arena Football League’s Cleveland Gladiators and is a member of the Board of the League. He is on the Boards of Directors of The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, The Children’s Home Society, and The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Florida, and serves on the National Leadership Committee of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. Mr. Ferraro has three children – James, Andrew and Alexis.

Sergio M. Gonzalez

Sergio Gonzalez currently serves as Senior Vice President for University Advancement and External Affairs at the University of Miami. Playing a lead role in the University’s $1.4 billion fundraising campaign, Mr. Gonzalez was instrumental in leadership gifts to the campaign of $100, $50 and $30 million. Mr. Gonzalez has served on a number of community and corporate boards including the Dade Community Foundation, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, TotalBank, the Orange Bowl Committee, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Breakthrough Miami, and the Board of Directors for the Chamber of Commerce. He has received numerous recognitions including the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s Bill Colson Award, the Miami-Dade Planned Giving Council’s Professional Advisor of the Year Award, and the Iron Arrow, the highest honor attainable at the University of Miami.

F.W. Mort Guilford

A University of Miami and UM Law School graduate, Mort Guilford lives and works in Coral Gables. He is an attorney and has been practicing for 45 years in the areas of real estate and land use law. Also a developer with over four decades of experience, Mr. Guilford was the first developer of condominiums in Coral Gables. He is currently Chairman of the Alma Jennings Foundation; treasurer and member of the Board and Executive Committee of Jackson Memorial Foundation; and board member of Episcopal Charities of Southeast Florida. He is a member of the President’s Council of UM and was selected as the recipient of the Henry King Stanford Alumnus of the Year Award. Other organizations that Mr. Guilford has been committed to include the Coral Gables Chamber, UM Citizens Board, Coral Gables Foundation, Junior Orange Bowl Committee, UM Board of Trustees, and various City of Coral Gables development, planning and enforcement boards.

Dr. Morton L. Hammond

Dr. Mort Hammond graduated from the University of Maryland School of Medicine at the age of 24 before being called away from his internship to serve in World War II. He spent three years in the Pacific Theater in a forward Portable Surgical Unit. Dr. Hammond came to Miami in 1952 where he became active in the new medical school, teaching Internal medicine to the first two graduating classes. He started the first Allergy Clinic in Florida at Jackson Memorial Hospital where he served for many years as Clinical Professor of Medicine. Dr. Hammond has supported many charitable efforts and was for many years active in The Friends of Music, The Friends of Theater, The Friends of Art, The Florida Grand Opera, and The Blowing Rock N.C. Cultural Center.

Tim Hardaway

A five-time NBA All-Star and one of only four players in the history of the game who’s ever scored a double-double for an entire season, Tim Hardaway played basketball to inspire and touch hearts. In 2008 Mr. Hardaway founded The Tim Hardaway Foundation, a non-profit that works to develop programs and support community based organizations that address the educational, health and socio-economic needs of ethnically diverse urban communities. The Foundation is currently funding the construction of homes for impoverished families in Haiti. Even before he launched his foundation, Mr. Hardaway was touching the lives of youngsters in the community. In 1997 he flew 50 children all stricken with cancer to spend a day at Sea World. He is currently the President of Crossover Enterprises, the managing partner of Crossover Sportswear and a partner in the Banneker Watch Company. He lives with his wife Yolanda and their three children, Tim, Jr., Nia and Nina.

Gene Kubicki

A Notre Dame graduate, Gene Kubicki co-founded the law firm of Kubicki & Draper in 1962. He has served on the Board of Trustees at Holy Cross College in South Bend, Indiana, and for over 20 years has been on the Advisory Council at the Notre Dame Law School. He has served on Notre Dame’s Development Committee during three campaigns, the most recent of which exceeded its goal of $1 billion, and chaired the Fundraising Committee at Epiphany Church, bringing in over $12 million to build a new church. Mr. Kubicki is also a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, The American Board of Trial Advocates and The Defense Research Institute. He serves on the Board of Directors at the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Fidelity Federal Bank and Trust of Florida and the Cayman Club in Grand Cayman where he presides as Chairman of the Executive Board.

Victor H. Mendelson

Victor H. Mendelson is the Co-President and a Director of New York Stock Exchange-traded HEICO Corporation. He has also been CEO of HEICO’s Electronic Technologies Group since its founding in 1996. HEICO Corporation is the world’s largest independent producer of FAA-approved commercial aircraft replacement parts and the leading designer and manufacturer of mission-critical and complex electro-optical, electronic and microwave components employed mostly in defense systems. A Miami resident since he was a toddler, Mr. Mendelson received his AB degree from Columbia College of Columbia University and his JD degree from the University of Miami School of Law. Mr. Mendelson serves as President of the Board of Directors of Florida Grand Opera, a Trustee of St. Thomas University, a member of the Board of Visitors of Columbia College in New York and a member of the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade Foundation.

Gul I. Moorjani

Gul Moorjani has travelled seven times around the world and has visited over 126 countries, including Arctic and Antarctica. He is an engineer by trade and has worked around the world in a variety of capacities. In addition to being a member of a number of electronics and engineering associations, Mr. Moorjani is a member of Rotary International and helped in getting medical equipment and refurbished computers to Haiti and Peru. He was on the Board of the Toledo Opera, an Advisory Committee member of Junior Achievement and has been involved with several fundraising projects for Ronald McDonald Houses. He is the author of “Cooking from the Heart” with all the proceeds earmarked for Florida Heart Research Institute. Mr. Moorjani volunteers as an AARP Tax-Aide, providing free tax services to low income seniors and also volunteers with SCORE, a nonprofit that is dedicated to helping small business owners.

Eduardo J. Padrón, Ph.D.

An American by choice, Eduardo Padrón arrived in the United States as a refugee at the age of 15. Since 1995, he has served as President of Miami Dade College, the largest institution of higher education in America with more than 170,000 students. President Padrón is widely recognized as one of the top educational leaders in the world and is often invited to participate in educational policy forums in the United States and abroad. In 1993, President Bill Clinton recognized him as one of America’s foremost educators. President George W. Bush nominated him to the National Institute for Literacy Advisory Board. Most recently, he represented the U.S. at UNESCO’s World Conference on Higher Education at the invitation of President Barack Obama. President Padrón’s transformational accomplishments at Miami Dade College have been acknowledged by the national media including The New York Times, NBC Nightly News, TIME magazine, Wall Street Journal, CNN, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

William S. Reese

Since William Reese began his practice in Florida, he has been consistently recognized as one of the state’s top trial lawyers. Florida Trend places him among the Florida Legal Elite, and he has been named one of Florida’s Super Lawyers for the past three years. Mr. Reese is active in the community through his support of the American Red Cross for 20 years, the Boy Scouts of America, the Young Patronesses of the Opera, the Florida Opera and the American Cancer Society. He is also a member of the Two Hundred Club of Greater Miami of the Litigation Counsel of Florida Trial Lawyers Honorary Society. He lives in Coral Gables with his wife of 32 years, Barbara, who joins him in supporting causes that add to the quality of our community. Over the years they have opened their home to host charitable and cultural events.

Dwight Stephenson

Dwight Stephenson joined the Miami Dolphins in 1980 and spent his entire eight season career as a Dolphin. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his sixth year of eligibility; yet his greatest honor came in 1985 when he was selected as the Walter Payton Award/NFL Man of the Year for his work in charity, and he remains the only Dolphin to ever win that award. Currently, Mr. Stephenson is CEO/President of D. Stephenson Construction, a commercial general construction firm located in Ft. Lauderdale. Because of his belief in the importance of kids having the tools needed to learn, Mr. Stephenson created the Computer for Kids Program, refurbishing and distributing donated computers to needy children. He and his wife Dinah co-founded the Dwight Stephenson Foundation with its mission to combine their sports and business connections to generate funding for charities that support the needs of children and their families.