Annual Gala Celebration
Dr. Robert Gervasi, president of Mount Saint Mary College and guests were proud to honor Steven M. Neuhaus '96, Orange County Executive & Christina Bart Bilsky '85, MSMC Trustee with the Joseph A. Bonura Award for Leadership Excellence.
Friday, December 6, 2024 | 6:00 p.m.
Kaplan Family MST Atrium, Mount Saint Mary College campus
Proceeds from the Gala directly support the Donor Scholarship Fund.
Learn more and give here
Congratulations to Our Honorees
Christina Bart Bilsky '85
MSMC Trustee
Christina Bart Bilsky was born and raised in the Bronx, N.Y. Her dedication to pursuing a career in nursing was influenced by her mother's protracted illness and untimely death from breast cancer during her childhood. To that end, she received her BSN from Mount Saint Mary College in 1985. This extraordinary education opened innumerable opportunities in her career, but her experience at the Mount provided so much more, including enduring friendships with fellow students and faculty. She developed leadership skills as president of the student body in her junior year, as well as a love of the outdoors and nature, replacing her fascination with concrete and car horns fostered in the Bronx.
From Mount Saint Mary College, Christina embarked on a 30-year career working at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). She held several positions at MSKCC, starting as a clinical in-patient nurse on the Gastric and Mixed Tumor Service. She ultimately worked as a Clinical Nurse IV in ambulatory care with Dr. Leslie Blumgart, who revolutionized hepatobiliary surgery pioneering segmental hepatic tumor resection. Christina wrote critically important educational material for this new field of medicine.
Christina is committed to philanthropy with much of her efforts dedicated to improving educational opportunities and life at Mount Saint May College. She established a scholarship fund at Mount Saint Mary College in 2016 and has hosted career nights for graduating students at her home in Manhattan. She has served on the Advisory Council of the Nursing School and is currently on the Board of Trustees. For her efforts, she was awarded the James McEnery Award for Service to Mount Saint Mary College in 2021. In addition, she is a board member of The Armory Foundation in Washington Heights, which provides college prep for underserved youth.
Christina is the glue and engine of her family. She is married to Mark Bilsky, an Attending Neurosurgeon and Chief of the Multi-disciplinary Spine Tumor Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Her daughter Ann Powers ran cross-country at Northwestern University and is completing her residency in Otolaryngology at Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC which will be followed by a pediatric fellowship at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia next year. Her daughter-in-law Elyse Ausenbaugh is a Global Investment Strategist at JP Morgan and a frequent guest on CNBC, Yahoo, and Bloomberg News--and yes, she is on the JP Morgan commercial that aired during the US Open Tennis tournament this year.
Christina's other passions include endurance athletic events having completed 33 marathons with a best time of 3:04 and multiple top 10 age-group finishers in New York, Chicago and Boston as well as an age-group qualifier for the Olympic Distance Triathlon National Championships. She is currently on the Asphalt Green Masters Swim Team requiring a dedicated effort to get out of bed by 4:30 am to make practice three days/week. She is also an avid gardener and birder both of which were cultivated by the extraordinary natural beauty seen during her time in Newburgh.
Steven M. Neuhaus '96
Orange County Executive
Steve Neuhaus is Orange County's sixth County Executive since the office was established in 1970. As County Executive, Neuhaus has focused on revitalizing Orange County's economic development, enhancing public health and safety, improving infrastructure, lowering the tax rate, and stabilizing the budget.
A life-long Orange County resident, and the son of immigrants, Neuhaus was sworn into office on January 1, 2014, after having served as the Town of Chester's Supervisor for six years. He is currently serving as County Executive for a third four-year term, after running unopposed in 2021.
Neuhaus attended Monroe-Woodbury High School and took courses at SUNY Orange during his senior year. He went on to receive a bachelor's degree in History/Political Science from Mount Saint Mary College as well as a Master of Public Administration degree from Marist College. He is also a graduate of Orange County's Leadership Orange program.
Neuhaus was promoted to Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserves in October 2022 and is currently assigned to the Office of the Naval Inspector General. He has earned two warfare designations: Seabee Combat Warfare (SCW) Officer and Navy Expeditionary Supply Corps Officer (NESCO) and holds certifications from the Naval War College and the Joint Special Operations University. Neuhaus served with the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force on a six-month deployment to Iraq. Neuhaus has deployed to Iraq, Korea, Africa, and Japan, and served on active duty in Europe from mid-March through mid-May (2022) with the U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet in response to the crisis in Ukraine.
Neuhaus currently serves on both the County Executives of America (CEA) and the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) Boards of Directors and is the President of the New York State County Executive's Association.
Neuhaus lives with his family in Chester.
Thank you to our sponsors
Dominican Sisters of Hope Sponsors
Christina '85 and Dr. Mark Bilsky
The Kaplan Family Foundation
Silver Sponsors
Advance Testing Company, Inc.
Bonura Hospitality Group
M & T Bank
Secure Watch 24
Unitex
Hors d'oeuvres Sponsors
Marilyn Ejercito '77, RN, BSN, MSN &
Linda Dobias Dombroski '81, RN, BSN, MSN, MPS, FNP
Toshi Gambhir and Nikki Khurana-Baugh
Laborers' Local 17
Mediacom Communications Corp.
Dessert Sponsors
Focused Wealth Management
Spectrum Pension and Compensation
Dot and Stanley Bilsky
D-Ben Securities Systems, Inc.
RBT CPAs, LLP
Floral Sponsors
Armistead Mechanical
Aspire Brewing
LEGOLAND New York Resort
RTI Restoration Technologies, Inc.
Wallkill Valley Federal Savings & Loan
To Go Coffee & Treat Station
Atlas Security Services, Inc.
Delaware Engineering, D.P.C.
Fusco Engineering & Land Surveying, DPC
Hudson Valley Credit Union
Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp.
John Herbert Company
Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 373
Resorts World Hudson Valley
Thomas, Drohan, Waxman, Petigrow & Mayle, LLP
Sponsor a Sister
Dutchess Tekcon Industries, Inc.
Marc and Elaine Goldstein
George A. Hirsch
Brian Loveman
Susan Maloney
Collection Bureau of the Hudson Valley
Valley Contracting, Inc.
Drs. David and Susan Kennett
