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Ruby Slipper Awards

In 2002, SKIP, under the leadership of Board Member Amy Putman, launched the Ruby Slipper Awards to honor individuals who have made outstanding contributions to those with special needs. Over the years, a distinguished group of men and women representing a broad range of fields, from the medical sciences and business, to politics and the arts have been honored with this prestigious award. It is presented at the Ruby Slipper Awards Celebration each year. In 2006, the Wizard of SKIP Award was created to honor those who have rendered extraordinary service directly to SKIP.
A table listing honorees follows.

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Year Host Presenters Ruby Slipper Awardees
2017 Rob Bartlett – Comedian, actor, writer; regular guest on Imus in the Morning. Margaret Mikol– Executive Director and Co-Founder of SKIP of NY Richard J. O’Reily, M.D. – The former Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics and Director of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering. He has received many awards for his groundbreaking advances in curative bone marrow transplantation and has made a name for himself as a leader of pediatric cancer care throughout his four-decade career. 
2015 Rob Bartlett – Comedian, actor, writer; regular guest on Imus in the Morning. Anderson Cooper – Journalist, author, and television personality; anchor of CNN’s news show Anderson Cooper 360°. Bob Schieffer – A leading political journalist, he has been with CBS for 46 years and serves as CBS News’ Chief Washington Correspondent and as a moderator of Face the Nation.
Pat Schieffer – A graduate of Texas Christian University, she has served on the boards of many schools, and is an advocate for access and quality education at all levels.

Wizard of SKIP: Bobby C. Hough – SKIP office angel and neighbor.  VP of Tommy Hilfiger.
2014 Richard Cohen – Weekly columnist for The Washington Post. Don Imus – Radio and talk show host, Imus in the Morning and Co-Founder, Co-Director of The Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer.
Meredith Vieira – Fourteen time Emmy Award-winning television journalist, game and talk show host, currently on The Meredith Vieira Show. She sits on the Boards of the Multiple Sclerosis Society NY and is active with Children’s Miracle Network, Clown Care and Pajama Program.
Richard M. Cohen – Emmy Award-winning television journalist and author of inspiring books detailing his battles with multiple sclerosis and cancer. He sits on the Advisory Council at Harvard Medical School’s Neuro Discovery Center.
Sally Quinn – Author; journalist, The Washington Post and Founding Editor of OnFaith.com. She sits on the Board of the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

Quinn Bradlee – Author and CEO/Founder of FriendsofQuinn.com a website for young adults with learning disabilities.

 

Wizard of SKIP: SKIP Offices of New York City, Buffalo and Rochester
2013 Bob Schieffer – Moderator, Face the Nation; CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent.
Courtney Burke – Commissioner, New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD); later New York State, Deputy Secretary for Health.
 
Deirdre Imus – President & Founder, The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center; Co-Founder, Co-Director of The Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer.
James Moran – Acting Executive Deputy Commissioner, New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) and a distinguished champion of people with developmental disabilities.

Katie Wright – Advocate for advancing public understanding of autism – its causes, prevention, treatments and cure. Contributor to Age of Autism, a daily web newspaper, Board Member of SafeMinds and the National Autism Association. Her parents Bob and Suzanne Wright founded Autism Speaks in 2005.

 

Wizard of SKIP: Phillip S. Lawrence – SKIP of New York Board President.
2012 Dagen McDowell – Anchor, FOX Business Network; Business News Contributor, Imus in the Morning Deirdre Imus – President & Founder, The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center; Co-Founder, Co-Director of The Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer. Joseph & Donna SanzariSanzari is the President of Joseph M. Sanzari, Inc., a company specializing in heavy highway construction. Mrs. Sanzari is a community leader, and together they are medical philanthropists, notably supporting the Hackensack University Medical Center’s Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Medical Center and the Donna A. Sanzari Women’s Health, Education, Research and Resource Center.
2011 Meredith Vieira – Co-Anchor, NBC’s Today (The Today Show); currently host of The Meredith Vieira Show.
Deirdre Imus – President & Founder, The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center; Co-Founder, Co-Director of The Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer.
 
Jonathan Alter – Columnist for Bloomberg View and Bloomberg News; MSNBC journalist.
Mick Ebeling – Entrepreneur and inventor of EyeWriter and other low-cost devices that allow people suffering from neuromuscular diseases to communicate and draw using their eyes – named Top 50 Invention of 2010 by Time Magazine.

Larry Inserra, Jr. – President of Inserra Supermarkets, a leading supermarket chain in the TriState area. Trailblazing philanthropist for health services for women and children. Medical philanthropist notably of Tomorrows Children’s Institute (pediatric oncology and blood disorders) and the Molly and Lindsey Foundation for Diabetes Research, both at the Hackensack University Medical Center.

 

Wizard of SKIP: Henry Myerberg – Architect and designer of SKIP’s beautiful and welcoming office at 601 West 26th Street. 
2009 Mary Alice Williams – Co-anchor of NBC’s Weekend Today; former anchor and news division Vice President at CNN; currently anchor of NJTV News on New Jersey’s public television network.
Jonathan Alter – Columnist for Bloomberg View and Bloomberg News; MSNBC journalist.
 
Deirdre and Don Imus – Co-Founders and Co-Directors of The Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer.
Phyllis & David Komansky – Founders of the Phyllis and David Komansky Center for Children’s Health at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The Center works to improve the health of children through comprehensive patient care in a family-centered environment.
Bill White – Former President of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum and of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.
2007 Caroline Kennedy – Vice Chair, New York City Fund for Public Schools; author and activist for children with special needs; currently U.S. Ambassador to Japan.
Bob Schieffer – Moderator, Face the Nation; CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent.
 
Erin Moriarty – Correspondent, CBS’s 48 Hours.
 
Deirdre and Don Imus – Co-Founders and Co-Directors of The Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer.
Dorothy & Hamilton Jordan – Mrs. Jordan founded Camp Sunshine, one of the first nonprofit camps for children with cancer in the U.S. as well as Camp Kudzu, a camp for children with Type I diabetes. Mr. Jordan managed Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign and served as the youngest Chief of Staff in history. An author and entrepreneur, he raised millions of dollars for cancer research.

Mortimer B. Zuckerman – Chairman & Editor-in-Chief S. News & World Report, Publisher of the New York Daily News and Founder of Boston Properties. Medical philanthropist and trustee of Memorial Sloan-Kettering and Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

 

Wizard of SKIP: Amy Putman – SKIP of New York Board Member.
2006 Bob Schieffer – Moderator, Face the Nation; CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent.
Deirdre Imus – President & Founder, The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center; Co-Founder, Co-Director of The Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer.
 
Antonia C. Novello, D., M.P.H., Dr. P.H. – New York State Commissioner of Health; Former U.S. Surgeon General.
Joel & Susan Hollander – Mr. Hollander is the CEO and Chairman of CBS Radio. After he and his wife Susan lost their four-month-old daughter Carly Jenna to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), they established the CJ Foundation for SIDS, which raises awareness and funds for SIDS.

Dana Reeve Actress, singer, and activist for disability causes. Married to actor Christopher Reeve who became a quadriplegic following a riding accident.

 

Wizard of SKIP: Margaret and Yves Mikol – Co-founders of SKIP of New York.
2005 Jonathan Alter – Columnist for Bloomberg View and Bloomberg News; MSNBC journalist.
Deirdre Imus – President & Founder, The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center; Co-Founder, Co-Director of The Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer.
 
Antonia C. Novello, M.D., M.P.H., Dr. P.H. – New York State Commissioner of Health; Former U.S. Surgeon General.
Alice & David Jurist – Founders of the David & Alice Jurist Institute for Research at Hackensack University Medical Center to support research initiatives at both clinical and basic translational levels.
Caroline Kennedy – Vice Chair, New York City Fund for Public Schools; author and activist for children with special needs; currently U.S. Ambassador to Japan.
2004 Jim Axelrod – Anchor of the Saturday edition of CBS Evening News and
a national correspondent for CBS News.
Antonia C. Novello, M.D., M.P.H., Dr. P.H. – New York State Commissioner of Health; Former U.S. Surgeon General.
Fred J. Epstein, M.D. – Renowned pediatric neurosurgeon and developer of pioneering techniques to treat children with brain and spinal cord tumors; credited with saving thousands of children’s lives. He was founding director of the Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery (INN) at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City.
Jim & Jill Kelly – Mr. Kelly, is a former quarterback (NFL – Buffalo Bills and USFL – Houston Gamblers) and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. To honor their son who was diagnosed with Krabbe disease, Jim and Jill Kelly founded Hunter’s Hope, to raise awareness of the disease and the Hunter James Kelly Research Institute at the University of Buffalo to study its cause and potential treatment.
2003 Troy Roberts – Correspondent for CBS’s 48 Hours Mystery. Antonia C. Novello, M.D., M.P.H., Dr. P.H. – New York State Commissioner of Health; Former U.S. Surgeon General.
Kathy Broderick – Associate Commissioner, Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.
Deirdre Imus – President & Founder, The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center; Co-Founder, Co-Director of The Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer.
2002 Meredith Vieira -Co-Anchor, NBC’s Today (The Today Show); currently host of The Meredith Vieira Show. Peter Feinberg – Managing Director and Head of Institutional Equities and Trading, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Antonia C. Novello, M.D., M.P.H., Dr. P.H. – New York State Commissioner of Health; Former U.S. Surgeon General.