Date: Sep 17, 2008

William E. Green and Martha Sweeney Green Named Recipients Of Hofstra's Marjorie and James M. Shuart Alumni Family Award

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY … Hofstra graduates and Freeport residents William and Martha Green have been named the 2008 recipients of the University’s Marjorie and James M. Shuart Alumni Family Award. They will receive the award during Hofstra's Homecoming festivities, scheduled for Saturday, September 20, 2008.

The Marjorie and James M. Shuart Alumni Family Award is presented by the Hofstra Alumni Organization. to a family of two or more alumni who have shown outstanding dedication and service to Hofstra including, but not limited to, Alumni Activity, Donor Activity and Hofstra Volunteerism. The award is named for Hofstra President Emeritus James M. Shuart and his wife, Marjorie, who are also both graduates of the University.

Bill Green, class of 1967, entered Hofstra in 1965 with a major in business economics. He became a brother of Upsilon Gamma Alpha fraternity in early 1966. He graduated with a bachelor of science and worked as a procurement specialist for the Navy in Washington, D.C., and Grumman Aerospace Corporation in Bethpage, New York, prior to marrying Martha in September 1968. Bill entered active duty in the Army Medical Service Corps immediately following their wedding, with assignments in Texas, Germany, Vietnam, Maryland and Georgia. He left active duty in June 1974 and settled in Freeport.

Bill served in the Army Reserve and National Guard and held various medical administrative positions with the Veterans’ Administrative Health Care System while earning a Master of Professional Studies in health care administration from the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. Bill re-entered active duty in November 1986 as the patient administrator and chief, Mobile Medical Team for the New York Army National Guard, and was instrumental in improving the medical readiness of almost 20,000 troops in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.  Bill left active duty in October 1993 and joined the U.S. Public Health Service as an emergency coordinator in February 1994, responding to natural and other disasters throughout the nation. 

Bill retired from the Army Reserve in 2003 with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and is the recipient of many wartime as well as peace-time decorations. His civilian emergency coordinator position was absorbed by FEMA in early 2004, and he retired in late 2005.  Bill is a Fellow in the American Academy of Medical Administrators, a life member and former New York chapter president of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States and a lifetime member of the Reserve Officers Association. Since retirement, Bill has been very active in revitalizing Chapter 143 of the Disabled American Veterans, of which he is an officer and also a life member.

Bill remains an active Hofstra alumnus as an eight-year Executive Council member. In 2005-2006 he served as chair of the Membership Committee and member of the Constitution Review and Products and Services Committees, secretary of the Veterans Alumni Chapter and chair of its Veterans Salute Committee, and acting president of the UGA/TKE Alumni Association. Bill was co-chair of the ’67 reunion. Additionally, Bill helped launch the Nassau County Regional Chapter Networking and Wine Tasting, Summer Alumni Leadership Institute, Carlin-Rudolph Memorial Scholarship/East End Wine Tasting Benefit, Homecoming, Nassau County Regional Chapter Pre-Game Reception, and Evening at Hoops. 

Bill met his wife, Martha (Sweeney) Green, class of 1968, through his involvement in the Greek community at Hofstra. Martha was an active member of numerous campus organizations including Alpha Theta Beta (AOB) sorority, Student Council, the Kate Mason Society, Gold Key, and the Student Affairs Committee. In her senior year she was selected for Bovenaan, Hofstra’s co-curricular Honor Society and Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. She was elected Spring Queen and graduated June of 1968 with a degree in Engineering Science. During her four years at Hofstra she was the only female student in the Engineering Department.

Martha worked for IBM Germany for the two years her husband was assigned to a unit in there and while he was deployed to Vietnam. When her boys entered school, she became a PTA mom, serving in numerous local and county positions to include president of the local elementary school’s unit.. She was awarded honorary Life Membership during that period. She earned a master’s degree in secondary education from Adelphi University in 1989 and worked as mathematics teacher at Baldwin High School. In 2001 the Nassau County Mathematics Teachers Association named her Teacher of the Year.  She collaborated on Amsco’s Advanced Calculus review book with Dr. Maxine Lifshitz, Chair of the Math Department at Friends Academy. After retiring from Baldwin High School in 2005, Martha became an adjunct at Molloy College. She frequently conducts workshops on using calculators to enhance mathematics instruction and has spoken at local, regional and international conferences. Martha served a two-year term as membership vice president on the executive board of Nassau County Mathematics Association, and she is a member of the Long Island Math Fair which sponsors a yearly competition for high school math students.   

Martha is a founding member of Hofstra’s Nassau Country Alumni Chapter. She has served on the Alumni Executive Council as an alternate representative for AOB. As a member of the sorority's executive board she is co-chair of AOB’s 75th birthday celebration and is the current treasurer. She was also an active member of the Class of 1968 reunion planning committee.

In September 2005 Bill and Martha established the Green Family Endowed Scholarship at Hofstra University. The Greens have two sons and three grandchildren.

For more information on the Marjorie and James M. Shuart Alumni Family Award please call the Alumni Relations office at (516) 463-6636 or visit www.hofstra.edu/homecoming.