2013 Distinguished Citizens Honorees

Keith Dawkins
Bill Duffy
Roy and Eileen Putrino
Ludwig Willisch

Saturday, March 9, 2013
Rockleigh Country Club
Rockleigh, NJ

Keith Dawkins

As Senior Vice President and General Manager of Nicktoons, TeenNick and Nick Jr., Keith Dawkins is responsible for the day-to-day operations for the toon, teen and preschool networks, including the on-air programming, scheduling and marketing. He also works with Viacom’s Content Distribution & Marketing organization on the channel’s distribution rollout. Dawkins also forges new creative partnerships and co-productions with non-traditional programming partners for the networks. He has developed a variety of partnerships with industry leaders such as Marvel Animation, FremantleMedia, Lionsgate, LEGO and the National Football League (NFL) designed to bring new content to the networks. As the first General Manager of Nicktoons, Dawkins has helped the network grow from eight million households to 61 million, become ad-supported and currently stand as the fastest growing kids’ network in the marketplace. Dawkins has overseen the launch of a roster of shows including Rob Dyrdeks’s Wild Grinders, Kappa Mikey, Edgar & Ellen, Skyland, Speed Racer: The Next Generation and Dragon Ball Z Kai. He formed a partnership with Marvel Animation that brought several of their popular franchises to Nicktoons audiences. This includes Wolverine and the X-Men and Iron Man: Armored Adventures, which both premiered to stellar ratings and led the network to double-digit year-over-year growth. Most recently, Dawkins formed a partnership with the NFL that led to the coproduction of the short form series, Rush Zone: Guardians of the Core, which drew more than 9.4 million total viewers since its premiere in 2010. This relationship has continued into season two of the series, NFL Rush Zone: Season of the Guardians¸which will debut as full-length episodes. At the helm of TeenNick, which reaches 72 million homes, Dawkins is charged with leading the teen brand, which features a roster of Nick favorites, original programming and award-winning series including: Degrassi, Dance Academy, Alien Surf Girls, Slide, H2O, Drake & Josh, True Jackson, VP, Zoey 101 and Ned’s Declassified. Dawkins also partners with TeenNick Chairman Nick Cannon on Nick’s original programming initiatives such as the TeenNick HALO Awards. Most recently, Dawkins spearheaded the launch of “The ‘90s Are All That,” a two-hour, weeknight programming block developed in response to fan demand and featuring some of Nickelodeon’s iconic ‘90s hits. The debut of the on-air initiative and its accompanying integrated, fan-driven social media components resulted in the highest late-night viewership ever in the network’s history and sparked a social media fan frenzy on Twitter. As the leader of day-to-day operations for Nick Jr. which reaches 75 million homes, Dawkins is responsible for many of Nickelodeon’s mega-hit preschool shows, including Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, Bubble Guppies, The Backyardigans, Ni Hao, Kai-lan, The Wonder Pets!, Yo Gabba Gabba!, Olivia, The Fresh Beat Band and Team Umizoomi. Dawkins began his time at Viacom by serving as a supervising producer for VH1 News, where he oversaw numerous long-form programs and spearheaded the channel’s short-form news coverage. Prior to joining VH1, Dawkins was a producer at Fox News Channel where he was part of the network’s original launch team, producing a variety of daily and live event coverage such as Super Bowl XXXI and the Clinton impeachment proceedings. During his tenure with the company, Dawkins has served on numerous advisory boards that foster diversity and inclusion amongst peers, departments and networks, including the VH1 Diversity Team, the Nickelodeon Diversity Team and most recently the Viacom Office of Global Inclusion Advisory Committee (GIAC). The Viacom GIAC is committed to championing the next generation of leadership across all Viacom brands, and ensuring that the culture continues to evolve as a welcoming and inclusive place for talent, employees, leaders and partners. A graduate of the CTAM Executive Management Program at Harvard Business School and the NAMIC Executive Leadership Program at UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management, where Dawkins received the prestigious NAMIC Next Generation Leaders Award in 2008, he also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication from Ramapo College. He currently sits on Ramapo’s Board of Governors and on the board of the NY chapter of “Reach Out and Read,” a national children’s literacy organization. He currently lives in Ridgewood, NJ, with his wife and two sons.

 Bill Duffy

Mr. William F. Duffy is the President North America and Global Director of Operations for the Net-A-Porter Group LLC., the world’s premier online luxury fashion retailer that operates three award-winning websites; NET-A-PORTER.COM, MRPORTER.COM, and theOUTNET.com. The company is headquartered in London with offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, New York, and New Jersey.
Mr. Duffy is the senior executive for the company in the United States, and is responsible for the growth of the business here as well as for the worldwide operations for all three of the company’s brands. He has led the company’s rapid expansion of its fulfillment capabilities throughout the world with the introduction of highly automated equipment in its London and New Jersey facilities along with the construction of its new offices in Manhattan and their new distribution center in Hong Kong. Prior to joining Net-A-Porter, Mr. Duffy had a long and distinguished career with Barnes & Noble, Inc., where he served in various capacities most recently as the Executive Vice President of Distribution and Logistics where he was responsible for all distribution operations for the company. Prior to that, he was one of the founding members of the company’s internet division Barnes & Noble.com, and served as the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Operations. As an early pioneer in ecommerce, his leadership skills and resourcefulness greatly contributed to Barnes & Noble.com’s growth and success. Prior, he was Vice President and General Manager of the Barnes & Noble mail-order catalog and was Vice President of Finance at Barnes & Noble Inc. Mr. Duffy holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Villanova University where he currently serves as a member of the University’s Budget Committee. He is a Certified Public Accountant and lives with his wife and four children in Mahwah.

Roy and Eileen Putrino

Roy and Eileen Putrino are President, CEO and CFO respectively of Basic Home Infusion, Inc. (BHI). Founded in 1983 by the Putrino’s, BHI has been providing home healthcare infusion services including anti-invectives, chemotherapy, hydration, and IV pain management infusion therapies among others. The organization’s unique business model allows for the specialty and sole focus on the intrathecal therapies. In addition, BHI offers both national presence and comprehensive local coverage. Roy graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University with a degree in Biology. Roy and Eileen graduated from St. John’s University with degrees in Pharmacy. Roy is chair of the Performing Arts Series and serves on the Anisfield School of Business Advisory Committee. The Putrino’s support the Multiple Sclerosis Centers in Teaneck and Westchester and are members of St. Elizabeth’s Church in Wyckoff. They have three children and live in Wyckoff, New Jersey.

Ludwig Willisch

Ludwig Willisch is head of the Americas Region of the BMW Group, responsible for the company’s business including sales and marketing in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and the rest of Central and South America including the Caribbean. In addition, Mr. Willisch is Chairman of BMW (US) Holding Corp. and Chairman of DesignworksUSA, the company’s strategic design firm in California. Before becoming CEO of the Americas in October 2011, Mr. Willisch was head of the BMW Group European region beginning in May 2009. In this position he was responsible for sales of BMW and MINI automobiles in all of the European countries outside of Germany. Immediately prior, Mr. Willisch was President of BMW’s renowned M division, the specialized high-performance subsidiary that produces BMW M automobiles and the customized BMW Individual vehicles. Under his leadership, sales of BMW M vehicles increased by 50%. A life-long car enthusiast Ludwig Willisch is also a skilled race car driver with his share of competitive victories. He began his automotive career while in college as a car salesman, joining BMW Group in 1996. In succeeding years, he would serve as head of the sales subsidiaries in Germany, Japan and Sweden. A native of Germany, Mr. Willisch and his wife, Irene, live in Connecticut. They have one son, Paul, who will complete his graduate degree in Economics this summer at HEC Paris (Hautes études commerciales de Paris).