DECEMBER 23, 1996- KALAFER PRESENTS GIFT IN NAME OF CONOVER TO REFURBISH PRESIDENT'S OFFICE
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- Local businessman and Rider graduate Steve Kalafer, president of Flemington Car and Truck Country, recently donated approximately $10,000 for refurbishments to the University president's office.
The gift was presented in the name of fellow alumnus George W. Conover, former owner of the Nassau-Conover Motor Company bought by Kalafer in 1994.
"I was sitting in (Rider president Luedeke) Bart's office recently, and he is a very humble, self-effacing man who would never spend money on himself," said Kalafer, a resident of Annandale, NJ. "I believe his surroundings should be commensurate with the office he holds and project the quality of Rider University, especially when he is hosting guests.
"George Conover was the owner of the Nassau-Conover Ford dealership for many years, and what better way to honor the heritage of his business than through this gift."
Conover graduated with a B.S. in commerce from Rider in 1939. He resides in Princeton with his wife Katherine, also a Rider graduate.
This is the second gift to Rider presented by Kalafer in honor of a colleague from the automobile business. In 1993, he contributed $25,000 to set up the Coleman/Kalafer Endowed Scholarship in honor of Lew Coleman, owner of the Coleman Oldsmobile-Jeep/Eagle-Subaru dealership in Ewing Township, NJ.
Kalafer will be honored in February as the recipient of the Rider Alumni Association's "Attainments In Life Award," the highest award offered by the association. He received a B.S.C. in management and organizational behavior from Rider in 1971, and has served on the University's Board of Trustees since 1993.
Rider University is a private, non-sectarian institution with a 353-acre campus in Lawrenceville, NJ, and a 23-acre campus in Princeton, NJ. It is divided into five academic units -- the Colleges of Business Administration, Education and Human Services, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Continuing Studies, and Westminster Choir College. U.S. News and World Report again ranks Rider in the top tier of regional universities and colleges in the north.
