NJEA is mourning the passing of former NJEA Executive Director Vince Giordano on Dec. 5. Giordano served as executive director for the final six years of a 43+ year NJEA career. He retired in 2013. Previously a sixth grade science teacher in Paramus, he was hired by NJEA in 1970 during a wave of expansion following the passage of the state’s public employee collective bargaining law two years earlier.
During his long career he also served as director of UniServ and as NJEA’s first assistant executive director. He was well-known and deeply respected in education and labor circles throughout New Jersey and the nation.
NJEA’s officers, President Sean M. Spiller, Vice President Steve Beatty and Secretary-Treasurer Petal Robertson, had this say about his legacy:
“Vince Giordano is an NJEA icon whose career spanned the growth of our union from a small organization into a powerhouse. He played a key role in that transformation through his personal advocacy work as well as through the hundreds of advocates he hired, mentored and encouraged over more than four decades of service to NJEA members. He never forgot his own roots as a teacher and member and that drove his endless determination to improve conditions for students and educators across New Jersey. His legacy at NJEA lives on through the staff he hired, the policies he championed and the organizing ethic he learned from his predecessors, which he instilled in those who came after him.
“Our prayers are with his family and loved ones. He will be deeply missed.”
You can read more about Giordano in this NJEA Review story published when he became executive director. While he will be missed, his legacy at NJEA will remain.