6 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • JUNE 2021 LONG ISLAND PRESS POWERLIST
POWERLIST PARTNERS
Seymour Liebman
Executive Vice President & Chief
Administrative Officer
Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Seymour Liebman is Executive Vice President,
Chief Administrative Officer and General
Counsel of Canon U.S.A., Inc., Senior Managing
Executive Officer of Canon Inc., Japan
and Chairman of BriefCam, Ltd.
Liebman joined the Canon U.S.A. Accounting
Division in 1974 as a Manager and was promoted
to Vice President in 1987. In 1989, he established
the in-house legal department at Canon U.S.A., where he currently oversees
almost 50 in-house attorneys including intellectual property attorneys. In 1996,
he was promoted to Executive Vice President and General Manager for Administration
and Regional Operations as well as being named General Counsel.
In addition to these positions, Liebman was appointed Chief Administrative
Officer in 2008. He oversees all legal affairs and corporate administration
functions for Canon Americas.
Liebman was the first non-Japanese Canon executive to be appointed an
Executive Officer of Canon Inc. in Japan by the Company’s shareholders and
Board of Directors in 2009.
Liebman serves on the Board of Governors of the Touro Law Center, is vice
chairman of the Long Island Association, a member of the Board of Directors of the
Information Technology Industry Council and a member of the Council of Overseers
for the Tilles Center. He is also a member of the Melville Employment Center
Advisory Committee.
Liebman was appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to the
Long Island Regional Development Council and the New York State Life
Science Advisory Board, and is a Hall of Fame Platinum Member of the Long
Island Press PowerList.
James Metzger
CEO
The Whitmore Agency
In 1989 James C. “Jim” Metzger put his insatiable
drive and entrepreneurial instincts in action
and opened The Whitmore Group Ltd. in Roslyn.
Today, as the award-winning insurance and
financial services agency’s Chairman and CEO,
Metzger continues to lead the business located in
Garden City. There, the company has more than 70
employees, and is known as The Whitmore Agency. In addition to driving bottom
line business wins, Metzger is also a renowned Long Island philanthropist.
As he readily headlines on his personal website - jamesmetzger.net – “Everything
I ever needed to know about business I learned on the sports field.”
He was a Suffolk County All-Star running back who started every game in his
three-year varsity football career graduating in 1977 with the distinction of being
the school’s all-time leading scorer and rusher. His lacrosse accomplishments,
almost unbelievably, were even more impressive. He was an All-American and
Suffolk County scoring champion. After high school, Metzger played lacrosse
at Hofstra. In his sophomore season he was named a Division I All-American.
After college, Metzger applied his talents and energy to building a career
in insurance.
Over last three decades, Whitmore Agency, has steadily built the business to
extend beyond insurance brokering. Besides a broad range of personal insurance
services, the company focuses on special industries that include funeral
services, transportation and livery, restaurants and hospitality, construction
and bonding, fine arts and collectables, and the cannabis industry.
Christine M. Riordan, Ph.D.
President
Adelphi University
Christine M. Riordan, PhD, is the first woman
to serve as president of Adelphi University. An
internationally known expert in leadership
development, team building, and diversity and
inclusion, she is recognized for groundbreaking
initiatives to personalize and transform the
higher education experience.
Upon her appointment, Dr. Riordan worked
with members from across Adelphi to create a
new strategic plan, Momentum, outlining transformational goals to strengthen
the academic experience, deepen the commitment to student success, enhance
the diversity and inclusion, increase fundraising, and earn Adelphi national
recognition as a modern metropolitan university.
Since the start of the strategic plan, enrollment has since grown by 10 percent and
the University has admitted the four most diverse classes in its history. Seventeen
new degree programs and 11 accelerated dual degree programs have been launched.
Alumni giving is at an all-time high. U.S. News & World Report has ranked Adelphi as
a Best College, a Best College for First-Year Experiences, a Best College for Veterans, a
Best Value School, and a Best Performer on Social Mobility. The University has also
been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll and
earned the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification.
Dr. Riordan previously served as provost of the University of Kentucky
and as dean of the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. She
has published nearly 70 academic and business press articles, and her work
has been cited more than 5,400 times by other authors.
Michael Serao
Executive Vice President, Chief
Administrative Officer
First Central Savings Bank
Michael Serao has 21 years of banking
experience including time at Commerce
Bank in Astoria, Vice President of JPMorgan
Chase, and Quontic Bank, also in Astoria.
He now serves as Executive Vice President,
Chief Administrative Officer at First Central
Savings Bank headquartered in Glen Cove.
As Chief Administrative Officer, Serao has brought First Central Savings
Bank, or as the community knows them, FCSB, into the 21st century. Through his
advocacy as a game-changing player of the nonprofit sector and a prolific LGBTQ
activist, Serao ignited change for clients looking for a full range of personal banking
services at a brick and mortar institution with the ability to bank anywhere,
anytime. By bringing FCSB’s branding to a new level, Serao inspired the troops to
make the change to “Banking the way it used to be, only better.”
While FCSB’s footprint has certainly grown, they take pride in playing an
active role within the local communities they serve by knowing their customers
and understanding their unique needs.
Serao leads the philanthropic mission of FCSB by securing funding for many
nonprofits. Serao believes in the value of giving back. In 2018, he personally
donated over $100,000 in charitable contributions to nonprofit organizations.
He has worked actively in the LGBTQ community as a former member of OUT
Astoria and former President of the Western Queens LGBT Democratic Club.
In 2018, Serao’s activism in banking was recognized by The Long Island Press
PowerList. That same year he was named “Person of the Year” by the Long Island
Crisis Center for his philanthropic commitment to the LGBTQ community. His
honors include: HX Magazine Businessman of the Year, Business Leadership
Award from the Powhattan Democratic Club, and Man of the Year from the LIC
Kiwanis. In 2014, the Huffington Post named him “The Banker Everyone Loves.”
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