Hail the conquering hero: Well done, intrepid innovators … another workweek conquered, another weekend queued up, with only one more workday standing between you and a well-earned two-day respite.
You are, as usual, our heroes. Here’s a resolute innovation review to reward your bravery and boldness – and to you help wrap up your weekly crusade in fearless fashion.
Proof positive: Proofreading is not as easy as it looks.
All men are created equal – women, not so much: Today is March 8, and we begin with an homage to heroines everywhere, and especially in the United States, where women still earn just 84 cents to men’s $1 and repressed backward-thinkers continue to assault women’s reproductive rights – International Women’s Day, celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women around the world, particularly in countries a lot more free than ours.
Make no mistake: Today is also National Proofreading Day, which the producers of your favorite thrice-weekly newsletter take very seriously.
And chew on this: It’s National Peanut Cluster Day, celebrating the heavenly combination of sweet chocolate and salty peanuts every March 8.
Lock, stock…: Also coming together on this date was the New York State Exchange, under a constitution adopted in 1817 that formalized the circa-1792 Buttonwood Agreement and created the New York Stock & Exchange Board, forerunner to today’s NYSE.
…and barrel roll: Throwing aviation for a loop-de-loop was Frenchwoman Elise Deroche, a.k.a. Baroness Raymonde de Laroche, who became the first woman in the world to earn an airplane pilot’s license on March 8, 1910.
Cleared for takeoff: The Bell 47 marked a significant advancement for whirlybirds.
Bell rung: Other aeronautical achievements associated with this date include the Bell 47, the first helicopter approved for commercial use, as decreed by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (predecessor of the present-day Federal Aviation Administration) 78 years ago today.
Bus start: Back on terra firma, the Volkswagen Bus – iconic van of choice for the Hippie movement – rolled off assembly lines for the first time on this date in 1950.
Now arriving: And it would be five more days until it received its first commercial flight, but it was March 8, 1974, when Charles de Gaulle Airport – after eight years of construction and $275 million in construction costs (about $1.8 billion in 2024 dollars) – opened in Roissy-en-France, about 23 kilometers northeast of Paris.
For those keeping score, that first arrival on March 13 was a TWA Boeing 747, winging in from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The Great Dissenter: American jurist, philosopher and legal historian Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841-1935) – who fought in the U.S. Civil War and retired (at age 90) as the oldest-ever member of the U.S. Supreme Court, where he championed judicial restraint for decades – would be 183 years old today.
Leading man: Other Black anchors had shared nightly network duties, but Holt was the first to do it alone.
Also born on March 8 were German surgeon Karl Ferdinand von Gräfe (1787-1840), who fostered modern plastic surgery; Polish pharmacist, engineer, businessman, inventor and philanthropist Jan Józef Ignacy Łukasiewicz (1822-1882), credited with building the world’s first oil refinery and inventing the kerosene lamp; American inventor Josephine Cochrane (1839-1913), who created the first commercially successful hand-powered dishwasher; American physicist and computer-science pioneer Howard Aiken (1900-1973), conceptual designer of IBM’s Harvard Mark I, granddaddy of the modern digital computer; and American musician and actor George Michael “Micky” Dolenz Jr. (born 1945), drummer, vocalist and last surviving member of The Monkees.
Holt from the blue: And take a bow, Lester Don Holt Jr! The American journalist and television news reporter – who began his career working for WCBS-TV in New York and became the first Black solo anchor of a nightly network newscast, leading “NBC Nightly News” since 2015 – turns 65 today.
Wish the newsman well at editor@innovateli.com, where our top story usually comes from your news tips and our nightly schedule often depends on your calendar events.
About our sponsor: Northwell Health is New York’s largest healthcare provider and private employer, with 21 hospitals, 900 outpatient facilities and 85,000 employees. We’re making research breakthroughs at the Feinstein Institutes and training the next generation of medical professionals at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. Visit Northwell.edu.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Leading the way: Long Island-based educational leaders factor heavily in two new State University of New York efforts to improve statewide civic discourse and race relations.
On Tuesday, SUNY Chancellor John King Jr. announced the formation of the SUNY Black Leadership Institute, which – along with the State University’s existing Hispanic Leadership Institute – is “critical to our work to ensure excellent leaders across SUNY’s campuses,” according to King. Fellows of the new Black Leadership Institute include SUNY Old Westbury Associate Dean Danielle Lee, director of the school’s Social and Environmental Justice Institute, and Nassau Community College Assistant Dean of Students Adeoba David Oyero, while SUNY Old Westbury President Timothy Sams and Stony Brook University Chief Diversity Officer Judith Brown Clarke serve on the new institute’s Steering Committee.
King also announced the inaugural class for SUNY’s Civic Education and Engagement and Civil Discourse Fellowship, with 10 fellows selected to promote civic discourse among students and faculty and otherwise advance SUNY’s commitment to civic engagement – an essential cause, the chancellor noted, with “civil discourse under attack, as misinformation and strife threaten to divide us.” Among the first fellows is Ashley Mercado-Liegi, assistant director of SBU’s Center for Civic Justice.
John Wenzel: Living on.
Remembering Wenzel: A six-figure donation honoring a longtime Rauch Foundation Board member will fuel two important ERASE Racism initiatives.
The Garden City-based Rauch Foundation awarded a $200,000 grant to commemorate the legacy of John Wenzel, a longtime Sea Cliff resident, World War II veteran and former Parker Hannifan Corp. senior vice president who also served on ERASE Racism’s Advisory Committee and passed away last October at age 100. The hefty grant will be used to create the racial-equity group’s first ever endowment fund – complete with an ambitious matching-donation effort – and to create a scholarship program in Wenzel’s name, targeting a “deserving high school senior on Long Island exemplifying ERASE Racism’s commitment to racial justice,” according to a statement.
ERASE Racism President Laura Harding said the Rauch Foundation gift reflects “John’s commitment to ERASE Racism” and will go a long way toward furthering the Syosset-based civil-rights organization’s mission. “ERASE Racism is greatly honored by this generous grant … in honor of John Wenzel,” Harding noted. “[It] will have a catalytic effect in his name on both the near-term needs of students and our ongoing efforts to eliminate racial injustice and achieve educational equity.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Enter – Doc Ock! A Long Island-based ocean conservationist is leveraging the power of social media on an innovative octopus rescue mission.
Something more: It’s simple math … the more subscribers we get, the more sponsors we get – and the easier it is to keep sending these educational and entertaining newsletters your way. Help us help you (and tell your friends).
ICYMI
New York Institute of Technology researchers are researching the best ways to prevent potentially deadly blood clots in gamers – their latest high-profile effort to establish sorely needed eSports health guidelines.
BEST OF THE WEST (AND SOMETIMES NORTH/SOUTH)
Innovate LI’s inbox overrunneth with inspirational innovations from all North American corners. This week’s brightest out-of-towners:
From Texas: Waxahachie-based protective-container pioneer Americase powers up battery-storage technology with cutting-edge Lithium-Ion Battery Cabinet.
From California: Rancho Cucamonga-based convenience-seafood king Aquamar cracks open innovative international menu of heat-and-eat shellfish favorites.
From New York City: Water-tech titan LEFEET revolutionizes underwater exploration with compact, lightweight and rechargeable backpack water scooter.
ON THE MOVE
Michele Pincus
+ Michele Pincus has been promoted to assistant vice president and director of the Real Estate Market at the Melville office of H2M architects + engineers. She was the Real Estate Market deputy director.
+ Noel DiGerolamo has been hired as a managing partner at Melville-based McBride Consulting and Business Development Group. He was president of the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association.
+ Jason Halloren has been appointed to the Old Bethpage-based Museum of American Armor’s Board of Directors. He serves as deputy commandant at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
+ Brandon Steck has been hired as a senior project manager at Mark Design Studios in Hicksville. He was vice president of operations at Officeworx in Hauppauge.
+ Lisa Burch has been hired as chief executive/president of the EPIC Family of Human Service Agencies in East Meadow. She was vice president and chief operating officer at Family and Children’s Association in Garden City.
+ Brittany Walker has been elected to the Board of Directors at Hauppauge-based Long Island Cares. She is vice president of strategic planning at Walker SCM in Valley Stream.
+ Jay Kraidman has been hired as a content strategist at Hauppauge-based Austin Williams. He was a director of digital and creative strategy at Manhattan-based RooneyPartners.
+ Skylar Vollmuth has been hired as a technician at Huntington Station-based GEI Consultants. She was an environmental technician at Northport-based ASA Analysis & Communication.
+ Samuel Bifulco has been hired as an associate at Uniondale-based Sahn Ward Braff Koblenz Coschignano PLLC, concentrating his practice on zoning and land-use planning, commercial litigation and real estate law and transactions. He was the executive assistant to the Brookhaven Town attorney.
Like this newsletter? Innovate Long Island newsletter, website and podcast sponsorships are a prime opportunity to reach the inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and executives you need to know (just ask Northwell Health). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Right And Wrong Edition)
Courting trouble: SCOTUS may be biased (and purposely dragging its feet on other important cases), but the high court got Colorado right.
You’re right: SCOTUS was correct on the Colorado ballot case.
You’re wrong: Why neither of the presidential frontrunners is suited to the job.
All wrong? All right! The “intellectual humility” – and joyous freedom – of admitting your mistakes.
If modernizing healthcare is wrong, they don’t want to be right: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including Northwell Health, always on the right side of lifesaving healthcare innovation. Check them out.
