The Municipal Forum of New York presented awards to three members of the public finance community at its 26th annual Awards and Urban Leadership Fellows Fundraising Dinner in New York on Wednesday night.
Richard Raphael, Fitch Ratings' Managing Director and U.S. Public Finance Head, was presented with the Austin Koenen Career Achievement Award.
Marian Zucker, President of the Office of Finance and Development at New York State Homes and Community Renewal, was given the Public Service Award.
Kent Hiteshew, Director of the Office of State and Local Finance at the U.S. Treasury Department received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
"I am honored to be acknowledged by The Municipal Forum of New York," said Raphael. "Past honorees are among the best and brightest in the business and I am humbled to find myself in their company. Public finance has been more than a career - it has been a true passion."
Raphael joined Fitch in 1989 after 10 years at Standard & Poor's and was responsible for founding and managing Fitch's Local Tax-supported Group. He later managed the State Ratings Group. He is a member and former Chairman of the Municipal Analysts Group of New York and a former President of the Municipal Forum of New York. He is also an associate member of the Governmental Finance Officers Association and a trustee of the Citizen's Budget Commission.
Hiteshew is the first Director of the Office of State and Local Finance. He joined Treasury after a 30-year career as a public finance banker, working at J.P. Morgan and Bear Stearns. Prior to this, he worked in the New York City Mayor's Office and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He is a former member of the Citizens Budget Commission and the Citizens Housing and Planning Council and a Governor of the Municipal Forum of New York.
Zucker is President of the Office of Finance and Development at the New York HCR, where she is responsible for leading the agencies' single-family and multifamily programs as well as its bond issuances. HCR is New York's new integration of the State of New York Mortgage Agency, New York State Housing Finance Agency and the Division of Housing and Community Renewal. She was formerly Director of Affordable Housing in Suffolk County, N.Y. Previously, she worked in real estate investment banking at PaineWebber.
