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The Burke Rehabilitation Hospital and Burke Medical Research Institute
To Honor Three with the Burke Award

On Wednesday, June 3, 2009, The Burke Rehabilitation Hospital and Burke Medical Research Institute will honor Massimo d'Amore, chief executive officer of PepsiCo Americas Beverages, retired New York State Police Zone Sergeant Paul Richter, of Albany, and  former mayor Jean Lawson Stone, of Scarsdale,  with the 2009 Burke Award, the highest honor bestowed by Burke and its board of directors. The presentations will be made at a special reception held from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Burke’s campus, 785 Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains. 

The Burke Award is presented to individuals or  a group for strength in overcoming a disability, for efforts made to ensure independence for individuals with disabilities, for the development of science and research that contributes to the better understanding of physical disability, and for contributions made to the development of rehabilitation.    

Massimo d’Amore, the corporate recipient of the Burke Award, is being honored for PepsiCo’s EnAble program, a company-sponsored employee diversity network whose mission is “to cultivate a more inclusive environment for people with different abilities and provide support to caregivers.”

“I am both delighted and humbled by this honor,” Mr. d’Amore said.  “I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of all of the passionate and creative PepsiCo associates from around the world who are members of EnAble.  

“At the same time, I am humbled to be accepting this recognition from Burke.  PepsiCo EnAble’s mission is to remove the cultural and physical barriers that too often prevent people from realizing their full potential. The people of Burke serve as an inspiration for us as they – quite literally – break through those barriers every day.”

Mr. d’Amore added:  “I would also like to take this opportunity to extend my personal gratitude to the people at Burke, who aided the recovery from surgery of my then 84-year-old father in 2003.  Their courtesy, passion and ability to work miracles leave me at a loss for words.” 

A native of Italy, Mr. d’Amore was named chief executive officer of Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo Americas Beverages in November 2007.  He has been an executive with PepsiCo International since 1995. Prior to his service with PepsiCo, he had a 15-year international career with Procter & Gamble in Europe and North Africa. 

Mr. d’Amore received an engineering degree and Master of Science degree from the Swiss Polytechnic Institute in Lausanne, Switzerland.  He resides in Westchester County.

Paul Richter, the research recipient of the Burke Award, retired from the New York State Police as a zone sergeant in 1973, after he was shot in the neck, arm and leg during a routine traffic stop. At the time, he and his wife and six children, ages 3 to 10, lived in Tupper Lake, N.Y.  He was paralyzed for six months and permanently disabled. He is being honored for his promotion of legislation to assist spinal cord injury research. 

The Burke Medical Research Institute is a principal member of the Center of Research Excellence (CORE), which received a $15 million five-year grant focusing on finding a cure for spinal cord injury paralysis.  Mr. Richter was instrumental in establishing the New York State Spinal Cord Injury Research Program that provides funds for CORE. He is the impetus behind the creation of the Spinal Cord Injury Research Board, which generates up to $8.5 million annually from surcharges imposed on motorists convicted of moving traffic violations, and is a member of the Spinal Cord Society.

Jean Lawson Stone, the community recipient of the Burke Award,  is a long time Burke Rehabilitation Hospital board member and former Scarsdale mayor. She is being honored for her community activism and leadership on behalf of the disabled, and her promotion of rehabilitation programs.

Mrs. Stone was instrumental in establishing Burke’s Home Health Aide Training Program in 1982.  The program operated until 2006, and was cited by the National Association of Governors as a premier program for home health aide training and job placement.

As a member of the hospital’s board of directors from 1983 to 2004, she chaired the executive and other committees and was a member of The Burke Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation Board, the Burke Medical Research Institute Board, the Burke Institutional Review Board and the Burke Auxiliary’s board of directors. 

Mrs. Stone was elected Scarsdale’s first female mayor in 1981, holding office until 1983. Extremely active in the Village of Scarsdale, she also served as president of the Village Club and the Heathcote Association, and was active with the League of Women Voters and the Parent Teacher Association. She has done extensive community service in the area of mental health as president of the Mental Health Association of Westchester and as a board member of the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression.  She also serves on the advisory council of New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

In 1987, Mrs. Stone was named by President Ronald Reagan to the Presidential Board of Advisors on Private Sector Initiatives.

Tickets  to the Burke Award reception are $175 per person. For information on ticket purchases, sponsorship opportunities, journal advertisements and the silent auction, contact Linda Ferone at 914-761-7111, or log onto www.burke.org.