The Penn Gold Coast Club
is pleased to post the following invitation from the

Wharton Club of South Florida
who cordially invites you and your guests to the presentation of the

 2010
JOSEPH P. WHARTON
BUSINESS STATESMAN AWARD
to

LEONARD ABESS
CEO, City National Bank of Florida
Miami Branch Director of the Federal Reserve

Keynote Speaker
Richard D. Fain
Chairman and CEO
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Special Address by
Andrew M. Heller
Board of Overseers
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania


Tuesday, May 11, 2010
6:00 PM - Cocktail Reception
7:00 PM - Dinner and Program

LaGorce Country Club
5685 Alton Road
Miami Beach, FL 33140

For many years Wharton School Alumni Clubs have presented the
Joseph P. Wharton Business Statesman Award to business leaders
for leadership excellence and innovation in
management and civic affairs.

THE
LEONARD L. ABESS
SCHOLARSHIP

to be presented by the Dean of the Wharton School to a
student who best exemplifies the high standards
embodied by Leonard Abess.
Leonard Abess was recognized during the President's
address to the Joint Sessions of Congress in February 2009.  
He has been recognized by Time Magazine, ABC and
numerous prestigious organizations for his philanthropic
work and leadership.

Please register for this event by April 30, 2010 via our website at www.whartonsouthfla.com. If you have any questions or encounter any difficulties registering, please contact Gabriela Sanchez, Club Administrator, at  (786) 206-4867 or admin@whartonsouthfla.com.

Donations to the scholarship fund at any level are welcome.
Please direct inquiries to
 Gabriela Sanchez, Club Administrator
(786) 206-4867
admin@whartonsouthfla.com 

Leonard Abess
Chief Executive Officer
City National Bank of Florida, now a subsidiary of Caja Madrid
Leonard Abess is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of City National Bank of Florida, now a subsidiary of Caja Madrid. He is currently serving a three-year term as Miami Branch Director of the Federal Reserve.

Mr. Abess is Vice Chairman of the University of Miami Board of Trustees, chairman of the Academic Affairs committee, chairman elect of the Executive Committee, Former Chairman of the University's Finance and Investments committees where he remains a member, and a member of the Trustee Service committee and the Visiting Committee for the University’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.


He is a Trustee of Fairchild Tropical Garden and The Nature Conservancy/Florida Chapter; and a former Trustee of the Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Mass.

He is the former Chairman of the Board of Mount Sinai Medical Center, where he remains a Founder and Trustee; former Chairman of the Mount Sinai Finance Committee, Audit Committee and Nominating Committee; and former Treasurer of the Medical Center’s Board of Trustees. He is a Board member of The Greater Miami Jewish Federation.

Mr. Abess is a member of the Orange Bowl Committee; the World Presidents Organization; the Chief Executives Organization; the Cabinet and National Commission of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith; the Miami Business Forum.

A devoted environmentalist, he is a member of the World Wildlife Fund’s National Advisory Council, a Fellow of the Palm Society and the Audubon Society. To foster interdisciplinary approaches to environmental management and decision-making on a global level, his family endowed the Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy (CESP) at the University of Miami; founded the Abess Center for Environmental Studies at Miami Country Day School and the Abess Floating Research Station in the Brazilian Amazon.

Mr. Abess was recognized by President Barack Obama during the President’s address to the Joint Session of Congress in February 2009. He was later named ‘Person of the Week’ by the ABC television network and was named to the Time Magazine list of ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’. In June 2009, the Florida Bankers Association named Mr. Abess as the ‘Banker of the Year’. He was also named ‘Boss of the Year’ in Reader’s Digest’s Best of America issue.

Mr. Abess is the recipient of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce 2006 Doc Baker Lifetime Achievement Award and co-recipient with his wife, Jayne, of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce 2007 “Sand in My Shoes” award. He received the Florida Anti-Defamation League’s 2002 Distinguished Public and Community Service Award and the 2002 Silver Medallion for Service to Humanity from the National Conference for Community and Justice. A graduate of Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Abess was inducted into the South Florida Business Hall of Fame in 2002.