Lawrence D’Antonio
The CCSC presented the 2019 CCSC Distinguished Service Award to Lawrence D’Antonio during the CCSC General Business meeting held on March 1, 2019. Larry has served 20+ years on the CCSC:NE regional board, most of the time as its chair and as the representative to the national CCSC Board, providing dedicated leadership for the Northeastern region.
From left: Ingrid Russell, Lawrence D’Antonio. Lawrence D’Antonio was unable to attend the 2019 CCSC General Business Meeting to accept this award. It was presented to him by Ingrid Russell at the CCSC Northeastern Regional Board meeting on September 14, 2019.
Lawrence D’Antonio
Professor Lawrence D’Antonio’s commitment has been a major reason why CCSC:Northeastern conferences are so successful every year. During Larry’s 20+ years on the CCSC:NE board, most of which were served as regional chair, the conference has grown in many ways under his leadership. He has been highly supportive of board and conference committee initiatives that have introduced new features and tracks to the CCSC:NE conferences, including demos/lightning talks, a faculty poster session, additional student activities such as career fairs and a student “unconference”, and bringing in encore presentations.
Larry’s dedication to the region has been in evidence throughout his career. But never more so than in 2017 when the expected host school had to back out of their commitment to hold the conference, and Larry went into action to find a new host and to do what it would take to have a successful conference with a shorter than usual amount of time to plan. When a host was identified, Larry quickly made a visit to the campus to ensure that everyone was fully aware of the commitments they were making, and to verify that the facilities that they intended to use would be appropriate. Any time the committee hit a snag in planning, Larry was quick to offer suggestions and to help choose the best path forward.
Larry has played a large role in the enjoyment that many colleagues have had in being a part of CCSC:NE for so many years. His leadership and friendship have been vital to that enjoyment. Many have come to respect him and his good humor. When attending SIGCSE conferences, Larry always makes a point of locating his colleagues for opportunities to go to lunch or just to meet for coffee and chat.
Larry has also been an active member of the CCSC national board for all of his years as Northeastern regional chair. CCSC is indebted to Larry for his many years of dedication to the organization and to Computer Science education in general.
It is with great pleasure that we present the 2019 CCSC Distinguished Service Award to Lawrence D’Antonio. His colleague Mark Hoffman will accept the award on his behalf today, and Larry will accept it in person at the CCSC:NE conference next month at the University of New Haven.