Phoenix Rotary 100

As affiliate members of the Phoenix Rotary 100, all Penn & Wharton Club Members are invited to attend any Phoenix Rotary meeting.  From time to time we highlight upcoming meetings . . .

Sports executive and businessman Jerry Colangelo has won their prestigious and coveted Career-Community Award of Merit, which remembers the late Phoenix Mayor John Driggs, who was a member of Phoenix Rotary 100. The Career-Community Award of Merit is given to a person who has achieved distinguished honors in both his or her career AND in his or her community. Phoenix Rotary 100 selects recipients who have accomplished both, as did former Mayor John Driggs.  

Jerry Colangelo is highly deserving of this recognition. He is the former owner of the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League and the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. Colangelo was also instrumental in the relocation of the original Winnipeg Jets team in the NHL to Phoenix, which eventually became the Arizona Coyotes, and in 2008 he was named director of USA Basketball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Grand Canyon Christian University renamed its School of Business after him. 

In addition, Colangelo’s community commitments are lengthy, particularly in the field of education, including chairing the National Italian American Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational foundation that promotes Italian American culture and heritage.