ANNIVERSARY GALA - National Italian American Foundation

Frank J. Guarini
NIAF Lifetime Achievement Award in Leadership
Born in Jersey City, N.J., Frank
J. Guarini received his Bachelor
of Arts degree from Dartmouth
College, earned his Juris Doctor and
Master of Law degrees from New
York University School of Law, and
pursued advanced studies at The
Hague Academy of International
Law in the Netherlands.
During World War II, Mr. Guarini
was a Lieutenant, USNR, in the
Pacific Theater, serving as navigator
aboard the USS Mount McKinley,
the flagship for the 7th Pacific
Amphibious Fleet. He saw active
combat in the Battles of Leyte,
Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines
and Okinawa, and later served
in the Occupation of Japan. He received the Naval
Commendation Medal and three Battle Stars.
Admitted to the Bar in 1951, Mr. Guarini is a senior
partner at the law firm Guarini & Guarini PA, in Jersey
City, N.J. He is also admitted to the practice of law in
New York, the District of Columbia, the United States
Supreme Court, U.s. Court of International Trade, the
U.s. Treasury Department, the U.s. Court of Appeals,
and the U.s. Tax Court.
Mr. Guarini served in the New Jersey Senate from 1965 to
1972. He was elected to the U.s. House of Representatives
in 1978 and served New Jersey’s now-defunct 14th
Congressional District until 1993. While in Congress, he
served on the Trade Subcommittee of the House Ways
and Means Committee and was a senior member of the
Budget Committee where he chaired the Task Force on
Urgent Fiscal Issues. Throughout his terms in Congress,
he was an outspoken advocate for fiscal responsibility,
fair trade, education and the war on drugs. He also
served years on the Select Committee on Narcotics
Abuse and Control, and was a majority whip at-large
for the Democratic Leadership. He was appointed by
President Bill Clinton as the U.s.
representative to the General
Assembly of the United Nations.
Mr. Guarini’s extensive involvement
in civic affairs includes service on
the National Board of Governors of
the American Red Cross; chairman
of the Board of Regents and Trustee
of Saint Peter’s College where the
Guarini Center for Governmental
Affairs has been founded; trustee
of John Cabot University in Rome,
Italy, and of the Hudson County
Chamber of Commerce and
Industry. He served on the National
Board of Governors of the American
Trial Lawyers Association and on the
General Council of the New Jersey
State Bar Association. He is a fellow of the American Bar
Associates and was alumni trustee of the Hague Academy
of International Law. At NYU Law School, he founded the
Guarini Center on Environmental and Land Use Law, and
at the NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli–Marino he founded the
Congressman Frank J. Guarini Center for Public Affairs.
Mr. Guarini served as the chairman of the National
Italian American Foundation and continues to serve the
Foundation as chairman emeritus. He endowed The Frank
J. Guarini Public Policy Forum and co-sponsors with
NIAF a language immersion program in Rome through
Dartmouth College.
He has received many awards. Among them, the Jersey City
Post Office building was dedicated to him, the library at
New Jersey City University and the residence of the College
president at Saint Peter’s College are named in his honor,
and John Cabot University in Rome designated its campus
the Frank J. Guarini Campus. He is also the recipient of The
U.s. Court of International Trade’s “Man of the Year” award,
the Sierra Club’s Medal of Honor, the Ellis Island Medal of
Honor, and Italy’s highest decoration, Knight of the Grand
Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.
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The 2011 NIAF Gala