Board of Directors
2010-2011 NATIONAL COPILAS, EXECUTIVE BOARD AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT
Daniel Stabile was born in Western Pennsylvania, son of an Italian immigrant coal miner and steel worker. He received his BA in Political Science, History and Education from Kent State University; MA in Counseling and Ph.D in Educational Administration from The University of Santo Tomas (Catholic and Pontifical University), Manila, Philippines and one year post doctoral study at the University of Virginia. He is a graduate of the Navy War College, Army and Air Force Inspector General Schools, Council for Excellence in Government Fellows Program, and Kettering Foundation's Institute for the Development of Education Activities (I/D/E/A) Fellows Program. He is a Senior Fellow with the Council for Excellence in Government and was elected to the Senior Fellows Board of Leaders. He served over 35 years with the Department of Defense Overseas Dependents Schools in various leadership positions and as secretary of the Northern Virginia Private Industry Council. He also served as principal of a school with the Archdiocese of Washington after his tenure with the DoD Schools. He serves as a school counselor and team chair leading Middle States Accrediting Association school accreditation teams evaluating schools. He is an active member of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Washington, DC, currently serving as President of the Holy Name Society and member of the parish council, Lido Civic Club and numerous professional associations. He is a highly decorated civil servant with the Department of Defense and recipient of numerous awards and honors. He has traveled extensively through Italy, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
TREASURER & ACTING SECRETARY
James W. Cocco, CPA: Jim is the Managing Director of River Star Financial Services, PLLC, a financial and tax consulting company with offices in Rochester, Michigan and Fairfax, Virginia.. Jim was previously a Senior Manager with Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, LLP in their Northern Virginia/Washington, DC office responsible for managing client tax compliance matters in various industries including Not for Profit organizations. Jim was also a Senior Manager for PKF Witt Mares PLC in their Fairfax, Virginia office specializing in Not for Profit Taxation matters. Before joining PKF, Jim served as the Chief Financial Officer of Automotive Technical Resources, Inc. located in Troy, Michigan and spent 17 years with the Examination Division of the Internal Revenue Service as an International Examiner in the Large and Mid Sized Business Division. He holds membership in several professional associations including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants. Currently he is also a Director of the National COPILAS as well as a Director of the San Gennaro Foundation of Virginia and a Past President of the OSIA George Washington Lodge #2038. Jim has published articles in the Journal of Taxation on Not for Profit organizations, International Non-profit Organizations and articles in Hospitality trade organization magazines.
PAST PRESIDENT
Joseph Lupo: Since July 2003 he has served as the President of COPILAS. His academic background is a varied one. He holds a BM from the Peabody Institute of Music, and a MA in Administration and Supervision (1967) University, an Education Specialist Certificate (1972) and a Secondary Education Ed.D. (1976), all of them from George Washington University. He is currently a Professional Development School Supervisor with Goucher College Department of Education. Past administrative experience include a position as Associate Instructional Accountability, Systems Cornelius, North Carolina; a teaching position at Bowie State University; a position as Assistant to the Superintendent of Schools, Prince George County; and a position as Chief Educational Administrator for the Bladensburg Community Schools. He is a member of several professional and Italian-American organizations and he is a member of the Board of Casa Italiana Language School. In recognition of his endeavors he has been awarded by the Italian Government the Cavaliere Cross, Order Star of Solidarity.
ADVISORS TO EXECUTIVE BOARD
Roberto Severino: Professor, Emeritus, Georgetown University and President, Emeritus, the American University of Rome. At GU he was elected Chair of the Italian Dept. for five consecutive terms (1988-2003), and during his tenure as Chair the GU Italian Department was selected by ACTFL as a national model program. His academic degrees include a Ph.D. in Italian Studies from the University of Illinois and post-graduate work in Linguistics and Comparative Literatures. He has published extensively in professional journals, is the author or co-author of several books and sits on many editorial boards. His interests include also Italian art and early books and manuscripts. He is an elected member of COMITES, member of its Executive and chairman of the Commissione istruzione e lingua. He is a co-founder and past VP of the Associazione Internazionale del Diritto e dell’Arte (AIDA), co-founder and Chairman of Italian Muse, and co-founder and first President (1999-2003) of COPILAS. He has received many honors, including the Telamone d’oro for culture (1995), the Premio Top Sprint, Siciliani nel Mondo (2000), the Medaglia d’oro ai benemeriti della cultura, first class, and the Commendatorato dell’Ordine della Repubblica Italiana.
Rev. Lydio F. Tomasi, c.s.: He is the Pastor of Washington D.C.’s Holy Rosary Church and President of the Casa Italiana Language School. His academic degrees include a doctorate in Philosophy and Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and a Ph.D. in Sociology from New York University. He has been very active in conducting research in sociological and migratory studies and has published many articles and books on Italian-Americans and on international migration. He has been Director of the New York based Center for Migration Studies. He is a member of many important Italian-American organizations, currently sits on the Executive Board of COPILAS and is very interested in promoting and achieving the council’s goals.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Giuseppe “Pino” Cicala: He is a member of several organizations (OSIA Lodges Roma, Fiumedinisi and International; Charter member of NIAF Council of 1000, AATI, The Italian Cultural Society, Lido Civic Club, Amerito) and currently directs AMICO information website. He is also the correspondent for community affairs for America Oggi and the Washington representative of Italy magazine. Since 1958 he has been directing the Italian Melodies radio program. He is past President of Lido Civic Club of Washington and one of the founders of COPILAS, on whose Board he has been since the beginning. In 1974, during his tenure as President of the Italian Cultural Society, the Italian Government began funding this organization’s important Italian Language Program. He is an elected member of COMITES. For his activity he has received many awards, including the Lido Civic Club Award (1959), Man of the Year by the Italian Community Association of Washington, DC (1981), the Christopher Columbus Award (1983), the Lifetime Achievement Award for 30 years service to the community (1987) and the titles of Cavaliere al merito della Repubblica and of Commendatore, Order Star of Solidarity.
Richard J. DiBuono is a Civil Engineer, having practiced in that profession for 47 years. He is retired from a 33-year career with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers where he served as senior civilian expert in hydraulic engineering and water resources management at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. While with the Corps, Dick also served for many years as the United States Secretary of the U.S./Canada Columbia River Treaty Board and U.S. Chairman of the Board’s Engineering Committee. He is president of Richard J. DiBuono, LLC, which provides consulting engineering services to private and governmental clients. Active in civic and community affairs for decades, he currently is the president of the Lifetime Learning Institute of Northern Virginia and chairman of the board of directors of the Abruzzo and Molise Heritage Society of the Washington D.C. area. Always interested in and proud of his Italian heritage, Dick has researched his paternal ancestry in Molise (Campobasso province) back into the late 1600’s and his maternal ancestry in Marche (Pesaro-Urbino province) back to the early 1700’s. Dick serves as a volunteer staff genealogist at the Annandale (VA) Family History Center, where he assists patrons researching their genealogy.
Giuseppe Falvo: Currently he is an Associate Professor of Italian and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Italian and Romance Languages at the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, University of Maryland at College Park. He holds a Ph.D. in Italian from the Johns Hopkins University (1986), area of specialization: The Italian Renaissance. In COPILAS’ past administration he served as Vice President. At the University of Maryland he has worked on the restructuring of the Italian Program and has created a double major in Italian/Education that has been recognized by the MSDE. Currently he is working with the University of Maryland’s College of Education to facilitate the certification of Italian teachers with accreditation in the content area.
Cesarina Horing: Since 1996 she has been the Educational Coordinator of the Italian Language Program of the Italian Cultural Society of Washington where she supervises 25 teachers on the implementation of the curriculum for ICS’s adult classes. She has been a Director of COPILAS since its founding, and has worked very actively in promoting the goals of the organization by meeting with school officials and providing teachers of Italian to their schools. Prior to coming to the US, from 1975 to 1995 she founded and directed the Centro Linguistico H.M. in Milano, Italy that provided language training in several languages to major Italian corporations and Governmental agencies. She is a member of many professional organizations (AATI, ACTFL, NIAF), holds an Italian teaching degree, and has pursued graduate work in the United States.
Dennis Santoli is President of Hanover Healthcare of the Hanover Insurance Group, an attorney licensed to practice in District of Columbia and Ohio and a Certified Risk Manager. Prior to joining Hanover Insurance Group, Dennis founded the Campania Group of Vienna, VA and previously served for fourteen years as Chief Executive Officer of Health Facilities Insurance Company, Ltd. During his tenure as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of HFIC, he expanded the company’s surplus from a .5 million dollars in surplus captive insurer to an insurance company with over $20 million of surplus and an “A” rating from A.M. Best. In addition Dennis has also served as the Corporate Counsel for Psychiatric Institutes of America and as Executive Director Blue and Gold Educational Foundation.
A member of Sigma Chi Fraternity and a Major, United States Army Reserve, retired, he holds a Juris Doctor, Georgetown University Law Center,1973, and a B.S. from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 1967.
Rev. Lydio F. Tomasi, c.s.: He is the Pastor of Washington D.C.’s Holy Rosary Church and President of the Casa Italiana Language School. His academic degrees include a doctorate in Philosophy and Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and a Ph.D. in Sociology from New York University. He has been very active in conducting research in sociological and migratory studies and has published many articles and books on Italian-Americans and on international migration. He has been Director of the New York based Center for Migration Studies. He is a member of many important Italian-American organizations, currently sits on the Executive Board of COPILAS and is very interested in promoting and achieving the council’s goals.
Maria Guarrera Wilmeth: Currently she is the Director of the Italian Cultural Society’s Italian Language Program. Her past professional experience include the following: Program Manager for Foreign Languages, Education and ESL at the Graduate School USDA in Washington, DC where she coordinated a language program which included 26 languages, 185 instructors and more than 7,000 students; Coordinator of Foreign Languages for the Fairfax County Public Schools; and Academic Director and Senior Linguist for the Defense Language Institute (DLI). Her academic credentials include a Laurea in French from Istituto Orientale, University of Naples; post-graduate work at Paris’ Sorbonne University, and a Ph.D. in French and Theoretical and Applied Linguistics from Georgetown University. She has authored a number of professional publications. For her activities she has received many honors, among which: the Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Repubblica, the Medaglia d’oro from the Ministry of Education and the Commendatore della Solidarieta’ Italiana from the Italian Government; Les Palmes Academiques from the French Government; and The Marshall Green Award from the Japanese Government.
