Chairman of the Board Carvel Corporation (Deceased) – Yonkers, New York
Mr. Carvel, a native of Greece, came to the United States with his parents at age five. Early hardships, disappointments and failures motivated him to achieve the American dream of success. Concentrating his efforts on food chemistry, he turned a one-man operation begun in 1934 into a national chain of 750 licensed retail ice cream supermarkets employing thousands of people and is credited with making ice cream a “grown-up” food. He has received over 500 U.S. design patents, trademark and copyright registrations ranging from mechanical and product designs to methods and technical developments of food equipment. Exemplifying free enterprise, his story has been told repeatedly on T.V. and in film. His entrepreneurial spirit extends to numerous projects benefiting youth and health care. “My advice to young people is to remember that all you get in this country is opportunity …the rest is up to you.”
