The Board of Directors of the Italian Heritage and Culture Committee-NY, Inc. (IHCC-NY, Inc.), founded in 1976, proudly announces the selection of Prof. Laura Sanguineti White, PhD, as the recipient of its highest recognition, the 2023-24 Leonardo da Vinci Award.Presented annually to an individual with a record of sustained and exceptional achievement in his or her field of endeavor, Prof. Sanguineti White is our exemplar of its 2023 theme, “The Joys of Learning Italian.”
Dr. Sanguineti White, Professor of Italian at Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ), received her Laurea degree in Letters and Philosophy from the University of Trieste along with a Diploma as Translator, and a Diploma from the Acting School of the Piccolo Teatro of Trieste. She was granted her PhD in Italian Literature from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
A distinguished scholar with a broad range of research interests and publications, Prof. Sanguineti White teaches courses in the literature of the 13th Century, Boccaccio, Petrarca, the Baroque, the Enlightenment, Food Studies, and Venetian Studies.
Her significant contributions to Italian and Italian American heritage and culture have been recognized widely. In 2005 she was awarded the title of Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana by the President of Italy. Further, since 2002 Dr. Sanguineti White has served as a Commissioner of the NJ Italian Heritage Commission (NJIHC) appointed by the Governor; and in 1999 was inducted into the Italian American National Hall of Fame. As Vice President of the Italian American Committee on Education (IACE) for the past 15 years, Dr. Sanguineti White has played a fundamental role in preparing scores of Italian language teachers in the tri-state area, highlighting “The Joys of Learning Italian!”
As noted by Joseph Sciame, president/chair of the IHCC-NY, Inc., “Annually, we receive important nominations for this one official award that we have conferred since 1985, and this year we were so very delighted to review and award the 2023-24 Leonardo da Vinci Award to Prof. Laura Sanguineti White, for she embodies all we wanted to salute in the ‘Joys of Learning Italian,’ as she has been a contributor for a lifetime of teaching, publishing and espousing the importance of language study.”
On Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at the IL Gattopardo Restaurant in New York City, Dr. Sanguineti White will be presented the award at a tribute dinner hosted by the IHCC-NY, Inc. Annually the IHCC-NY, Inc. develops and distributes to schools and cultural organizations in the NY area a poster and associated bookmarks, designed around a cultural theme or historic milestone. In 2024, the IHCC-NY, Inc. will be marking the 500th Anniversary of Giovanni da Verrazzano’s arrival in New York Harbor.
Learn more: https://italyculturemonth.org/
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Photo credit: Rutgers School of Arts & Sciences Department of Italian
