Joseph Sciame: President, Sons of Italy Foundation

Joseph Sciame

President, Sons of Italy Foundation

With more than 61 years of higher education experience to his credit, Joseph Sciame worked as the vice president for community relations at St. John’s University since 1994 in that role and retired on January 5, 2024. Prior to that appointment, he held multiple positions at the university as vice president for government and community relations, vice president for financial aid and student information services, dean of financial aid, and the inaugural director of financial aid. He began his career in 1962 as an assistant to the registrar, and as the University’s first financial aid officer, and assistant to the dean of admissions.

Before embarking on his professional path, Joseph Sciame pursued an education at St. John’s University with interrupted studies, graduating with a Bachelor of Education in elementary education in 1971, and pursued graduate studies thereafter. In the interim, Mr. Sciame enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1964, serving until his honorable discharge in 1967, and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal, thereafter, returning to the University three years to the date of leaving.

Beyond his efforts within the administrative field, Joe Sciame has participated in numerous endeavors outside of his professional circles. He was elected chairman of the Conference of Major Italian American Organizations for three terms, from 2011 to 2016; has been on the board for the Queens Symphony Orchestra, the Boy Scouts of America, the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Inc., and former chair and member of the Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center and Archives at Queensborough Community College, CUNY. A “guest chef” for the Queens Centers for Progress in 2014, Mr. Sciame has also been honored by many community organizations.

Leadership has evolved over the years, and he is currently the President of the Sons of Italy Foundation, headquartered in Washington, DC; chairs the Board of Ethics of the Town of North Hempstead, Nassau County; served as the vice president of membership for the Queens Council of Boy Scouts of America; and a founding member and currently on the Foundation Board of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce. In his prior career in the field of financial aid, Mr. Sciame was elected as President of the New York State and Eastern Financial Aid Administrators Associations, and as its first national chair of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. He continued to provide talks on financial aid issues for parents and students for the past 55 years.

Perhaps the core piece of his life has been education and advising young people, and in 1998 he became involved with the Parish of St. John the Baptist in Bed Stuy and founded with six others the Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter School (BSNBCS) as founder and chair, and completed ten years in that role in 2021, remaining on as a Trustee.

His involvement in the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America (OSDIA) began in 1968 and he rose thru the ranks of various officer positions as a local lodge president, state president and then national president from 2003-05. Serving in many capacities in the OSDIA prepared him well for the current role as President of the Sons of Italy Foundation, Inc. (SIF) for the past five years, in which he oversees the activities of the famed Garibaldi Meucci Museum and other 501©3 activities of the SIF.

In addition to his community relations work, Mr. Sciame had also served as a member and chair of the Italian Cultural Center (ICC) Advisory Board for St. John’s University, and a member of Kappa Delta Pi, the International Honor Society in Education. Considering his exceptional undertakings, Mr. Sciame has accrued many accolades and honors throughout his impressive career. In recent years, he has been presented with the Joseph Coccia Italian Language Award from UNICO, the Good Scout Award from the Queens Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Noteworthy Award from the Richmond County Orchestra and Richmond Opera Company.

Moreover, he was honored as a Hall of Fame inductee with The Power Memorial Academy Alumni Association, a Commander (Commendatore) in the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy, a Knight in the Order of Pope St. Sylvester, a Knight Grand Cross in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, a Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Merit of the House of Savoy, a Knight Grand Cross in the Order of SS Maurice and Lazarus, a Commander in the Constantinian Order of St. George, a Grand Officer in the Order of St. Michael of the Wing of the House of Braganza and a Commander Award from the Order of San Tomas Apostolo. His awards from St. John’s University included the St. Vincent de Paul Medal, the President’s Medal, the Pietas Award for Alumni and the Administrative Outstanding Achievement Medal.

Close to the now A Chance in Life, formerly Boys and Girls Towns of Italy, Sciame was a close friend of the late Monsignor John Carroll-Abbing, welcomed him as NYSOSDIA State Convention Secretary for many years, and visited the Rome site several times. In recent years, and as a legacy to the late Monsignor and current President, he fostered the support of the American Foundation of Savoy Orders in assisting the now international efforts to apply the philosophy of the now well-grounded B>I. During one of his visits to the Rome campus, and mingling with the young men and women, he pointed proudly as to what one building bears as the “New York State Sons of Italy in America” site. All a memorable experience over the past 50 years!