Angelo Vivolo, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and lifelong advocate for educational opportunity, has been appointed trustee of the City University of New York. The New York State Senate confirmed his appointment on June 7, 2021 following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s nomination of Mr. Vivolo to a six year term serving the nation’s largest public urban university.

Mr. Vivolo is president of the philanthropic Francesco and Mary Giambelli Foundation and has worked tirelessly to secure $15 million in scholarships for underprivileged students attending elementary, secondary, and collegiate institutions. Gov. Cuomo appointed Mr. Vivolo co-chair of the Frances Xavier Cabrini Memorial Commission in 2019.

Mr. Vivolo is Chairman of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, President of National Columbus Education Foundation, and President of the Columbus Heritage Coalition.

In 2020, Gov. Cuomo praised Mr. Vivolo’s advocacy and lifelong commitment to equality and justice for all peoples. “Angelo is a true champion for civil rights, and he is a tireless fighter against discrimination,” the Governor said.

His civil rights advocacy benefits diverse community organizations, including the Bowery Mission, Bronx Little Sisters of the Poor, City Tech (CUNY), Mommas House Inc., Share Our Strength, UNICEF, CUNY Calandra Institute (Queens College), City Harvest, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Food Bank, Metropolitan Opera, Hispanic Brotherhood Food Bank, the National Columbus Education Foundation, the National Association of Italian American Women, Culinary Institute of America, and the Inner-City Scholarship Fund.

Mr. Vivolo is an active supporter of The Partnership for Inner-City Education, a non-profit that helps to improve underachieving schools in Harlem and the South Bronx. He is also an active supporter of the Futures in Education Program, which raises funds for schools in Brooklyn and Queens. Mr. Vivolo is especially proud of his work with The Child Center of New York, a charity that provides counseling, tutoring, and other support for children and families.

He supports scholarships for underprivileged students at the Culinary Institute of America, where he delivered the 2017 commencement address. He is University Trustee of John Cabot University in Rome.

Mr. Vivolo is a graduate of Long Island University. He attended the City University of New York, where he pursued graduate studies at Hunter College and Brooklyn College.

He started his professional career as a high school teacher serving public schools in Far Rockaway and South Ozone Park, Queens, and in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, rising to the dean of a special intervention program for high-risk, academically underprepared teenage boys.

After nearly a decade of teaching, Mr. Vivolo joined his family’s restaurant business and embarked upon a forty-year career in the hospitality industry as an acclaimed restaurateur and owner of five widely respected Manhattan restaurants. During this time, he served as a goodwill ambassador to New York’s culinary industry, conducting seminars at public schools and supporting the hospitality, culinary and hotel management program at CUNY’s New York City College of Technology.

Mr. Vivolo directed hospitality services for His Holiness Pope Benedict in 2009 and His Holiness Pope Francis in 2015 during their visits to New York.

Mr. Vivolo is the recipient of the Ufficiale dell’ Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, conferred by President