NEW YORK, NY -- Gamma Chapter of Gamma Epsilon Tau, the national graphic arts honor society, will present its 2009 Gold Key Awards to Diane Romano and Russell K. Hotzler.

Romano, president and COO of HudsonYards, has been a leading figure in New York City's graphic communications industry for many years. As president of New York City College of Technology (NYCCT), a unit of the City University of New York (CUNY), Hotzler directs an institution that includes one of the nation's largest academic programs in graphic communications.

Both will be honored on May 29 for exceptional contributions to the advancement of the industry, particularly in education and professional development.

At HudsonYards, Romano oversees a team that provides premedia, creative, and visual communications services to advertising agencies, publishers, and other clients.
HudsonYards, a division of The Caps Group, is the present-day incarnation of a series of prepress and premedia service firms with which Romano has been associated for the last 40 years.

She began her career in 1967 as a draftsman and joined Publishers Phototype Inc. in 1969. Eventually becoming its president, she went on to serve in chief executive roles at Applied Graphics Technologies, AGT/Seven, Seven Worldwide, and Schawk Inc. HudsonYards was acquired from Schawk by The Caps Group in 2006. Throughout her tenure, she has pioneered the adoption of many electronic and digital production technologies.

Perennially active in industry affairs, Romano is a former chairman of the Association of Graphic Communications (AGC) and co-chairs the advisory board of the Center for Graphic Communications Management and Technology at New York University. Her many honors include the 2007 Advertising Production Person of the Year (APPY) Award; the 2005 Florence Joachim Woman Executive of the Year Award from Printing News; the AGC Power of Communications Award; the Luminaire Award from Women in Production; and The David G. Jensen Memorial Award from IDEAlliance.

A native New Yorker and a 28-year veteran of the CUNY system,  Hotzler holds a doctorate in physical metallurgy from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. He joined CUNY as a faculty member at Queensborough Community College in 1971 and went on to become the system's vice chancellor for academic program planning. His other CUNY posts include interim presidencies at York College and Queens College.

Hotzler was appointed the eighth president of NYCCT, also known as City Tech, in August 2004. Since then the college has added 113 new faculty members and expanded its student enrollment by 22%. Under his leadership, a capital budget has been secured for the construction of a new academic complex and extensive renovation of existing facilities. This is to include a state-of-the-art learning center for City Tech's Department of Advertising Design and Graphic Arts (ADGA), which is preparing more than 1,100 students for industry careers through its two- and four-year degree programs.

Hotzler currently chairs the New York State Regents advisory committee on accreditation. He also has served as a research fellow for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Among his honors is the American Society for Metals Education Award, given in recognition of his contributions to the teaching of science. He is also a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Christopher Columbus Award from the Italian Charities of America.

Gamma Epsilon Tau is a national, coeducational collegiate printing fraternity in which students of printing and publishing can meet and interact in a professional and social atmosphere. Its members are enrolled in graphic arts programs at many colleges, technical institutions, and universities.

Gamma Chapter of Gamma Epsilon Tau is located at City Tech. Recent recipients of its Gold Key Awards include Hoag Levins (Advertising Age), Thomas Saggiomo (DG3 Group), Lawrence Herbert (Pantone, Inc.), and Ann Marie Bushell (R.R. Donnelley).

The 2009 Gold Key Awards dinner will be held on May 29 at Club 101, 101 Park Avenue, New York City. As a part of this year's ceremonies, the Graphic Arts program of ADGA will recognize TanaSeybert LLC, a Manhattan commercial printing firm, for its longstanding policy of providing internships to City Tech students.

For more information or to purchase tickets, contact City Tech's Frank Adae at (718) 260-5833 or by e-mail: [email protected]