May 3 - Kalafer, Thompson to Receive Honorary Degrees at Lawrenceville Commencement
Rider University will confer honorary Doctor of Laws degrees on Steven B. Kalafer, a prominent alumnus who is a successful area businessman, a movie producer and sports team owner, and the Honorable Anne E. Thompson, a Senior U.S. District Judge, at its 140th commencement on Friday, May 13. Both are former Rider trustees.
"Rider takes great pride in celebrating the achievements and careers of Steve Kalafer and Anne Thompson," said Rider President Mordechai Rozanski. "Steve has distinguished himself as an astute businessman and Judge Thompson as a prominent jurist. We also recognize them for their leadership and contributions to the community, and their work on behalf of this University."
Kalafer is owner and operator of the Flemington Car & Truck Company family of dealerships, Princeton's Nassau Conover family of dealerships and the Clinton Car and Truck dealerships - in all, operating in 14 locations with 32 franchises throughout central New Jersey. He is owner of the Somerset Patriots, Camden Riversharks and Newark Bears minor league baseball teams.
A member of Rider's Board of Trustees from 1993 to 2003, he received Rider's Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1996. He received a Bachelor degree in management and organizational behavior in 1971.
Over the years, Kalafer has also been deeply involved in documentary filmmaking. This year he was nominated for his third Academy Award, in the Best Documentary Short subject category, for producing "Sister Rose's Passion" with Oren Jacoby. The film, which won the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival Award for Short Documentary, depicts the life and work of Sister Rose Thering, professor emerita at Seton Hall University, who worked extensively on building bridges between Christians and Jews.
In 2000, he was nominated in the same category for producing "Curtain Call" with Chuck Braverman. His 1998 film "More" (produced with Mark Osborne) was nominated in the Animated Short Films category. He is also an active member of the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television community.
Kalafer has been a strong supporter of Rider students. He endowed the Coleman/Kalafer Endowed Scholarship for business majors with financial need and has given generously to the Student Recreation Center campaign.
With her appointment by President Carter on November 2, 1979, Judge Anne Thompson became the first African-American to be appointed a judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. The appointment also made her the first woman to be appointed a judge to this district court. Judge Thompson is also a former member of the Rider University Board of Trustees having served from June 1988 to June 1990.
Judge Thompson began her professional career as an attorney in the Solicitor's Office, United States Department of Labor from 1964 to 1965. She served as an assistant deputy New Jersey public defender from 1967 to 1970. In 1972, she was appointed a judge of the Trenton Municipal Court by Mayor Arthur Holland, where she served until 1975. New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne appointed Thompson Mercer County Prosecutor in 1975 and she served in this position until 1979. She was the first woman and the first African-American County Prosecutor in New Jersey. In 1979, Judge Thompson again became the first woman and African-American to be appointed to the federal district court in New Jersey.
Judge Thompson's abilities as a lawyer and a jurist have been recognized by the legal community. She was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the National District Attorneys Association and the John Mercer Langston Outstanding Alumnus Award from Howard University Law School.
The judge grew up in Philadelphia. She earned a Bachelor degree from Howard University in 1955, a Master of Arts degree in 1957 from Temple University and a law degree from Howard University School of Law in 1965. She also served as notes editor of the Howard Law Review.
