Hall of Fame 2013 Inductees

Sabrina Cohen is the Founder / President of the Sabrina Cohen Foundation. Born and raised in Miami Beach, Florida, Sabrina endured a severe C3-5 spinal cord injury in 1992 at the age of 14 from a car accident. In an instant, Sabrina’s life changed when she hopped into the backseat of a car with some friends. The teenage driver started drag racing, lost control and the car slammed into a tree. The car was demolished and Sabrina’s spine was left damaged.

In the early days, despite the daily challenges and confusion, Sabrina continued on with life. She graduated high school on time with the rest of her class and visited schools to talk about her new life with paralysis, urging and inspiring young students to drive carefully. In 1999, Sabrina graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in Communications, double majoring in Advertising and Psychology and also holds a post-graduate degree in Copywriting from the Miami Ad School.

In April 2004, Sabrina discovered the world of stem cell research through Bernard Siegel, the founder of the Genetics Policy Institute (GPI), a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a legal framework to advance regenerative medicins. She soon became the Director of Public Relations for GPI, traveling nationwide with the organization to attend educational and scientific conferences, including the World Stem Cell Summit at the University of Wisconsin, Harvard University, Stanford University, Baylor College of Medicine at the University of Texas, University of Michigan and at the United Nations.

In 2006, the Sabrina Cohen Foundation (SCF) was established to educate the public about the cause and raise funds for research. In 2012, SCF introduced quality of life initiatives focused on adaptive fitness and recreation programs to its mission. Today, the Sabrina Cohen Foundation is running a campaign to build our nation’s first of a kind Adaptive Recreation Center to provide year-round beach access and fitness programs to the disabled community, designed by Kobi Karp Architects in partnership with the City of Miami Beach.

Sabrina’s media coverage as the Foundation’s spokesperson advocating extensively for research and quality of life health initiatives includes interviews with CNN, NBC, FOX, CBS, ABC, CNN Headline News, Good Morning America, Deco Drive, NPR, Jim Defede Show, WebMD Magazine (nominated a 2009 American Health Hero), The Miami Herald, Ocean Drive Magazine, Self Magazine, Sun-Sentinel and the Wall Street Journal. She has been linked to many political figures, including fellow stem cell advocate Michael J. Fox as well.

As a Professional Life Coach, Motivational Speaker and Disability / Healthy Lifestyle Advocate, Sabrina continuously enjoys taking the time to talk one-on-one with individuals, businesses, community groups, and students at schools and universities. In 2016, Sabrina got her Real Estate license and joined Coldwell Banker Residential to assist clients with special accommodations and accessibility needs. She created Sabrina Cohen Living to further develop the need for more inclusive living spaces and building more inclusive communities by drawing attention to this important niche market.

--Bio is taken from her foundation website.

Scott graduated Miami Beach Sr. High in 1970, completed his education at the University of Florida, FIU and Widener University; and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1980. He practiced law like he practiced life, helping people up. In civic life, Scott was the indefatigable go-to guy who got things done, then let others take the credit.

His presidential leadership ignited the Miami Beach High Alumni Assn., AEPi Alumni Assn, MB Bar Assn., North Dade & The Beaches Real Estate Council, Skylake/Highland Lakes Homeowners Assn. and Florida Lawyers Legal Insurance Corp. He helped backbone the renaissance of the Miami Beach Jaycees, then extended his know- how to the North Miami Jaycees. The Florida Bar Assn. and Young Presidents of Mt. Sinai Hospital are also beneficiaries of Scott's hands-on leadership.

Scott R. Jay, Esq., 59, of N. Miami Beach, passed peacefully on May 10, 2012, after a brief illness.

The Kasdin family’s prolific drug store chain, once the largest in South Florida, preceded Neisen O. Kasdin’s huge presence in the legal and political arenas of Miami Beach and Greater Miami’s development. Neisen became a student at Beach High in the 11th grade. His wife, Ana Sztylerman, was also in his 1972 class, but they did not know each other then. Together they have two sons, Julian and Eric. With Teacher Ralph Carey as Neisen’s mentor, participating in the speech and debate program became the highlight of his teen years. He won state championship in extemporaneous speaking and competed in national championship tournaments. He then parlayed his oratory talents into becoming a successful attorney and politician. After he was elected Miami Beach Commissioner, people chose him as Mayor.

By 2011, Neisen was named One of South Florida’s Power Players as Miami Office Managing shareholder of Akerman Senterfitt, one of the top 100 law firms in the USA and the largest in Florida. Neisen oversees about 160 attorneys and 300 employees. Neisen was a central figure in the revitalization of South Beach and the creation of Miami Beach as a globally important center for the cultural arts, specifically New World Symphony and Art Basel Miami. His vision of the future of the Beaches and Greater Miami was critical to accomplish the revitalization and evolution of Miami Beach, Miami’s urban core, and the blossoming of cultural arts.

Respected as a leader in urban development, he serves as vice chair of the board of directors for the Miami Downtown Development Authority and was responsible for leading the creation of Miami’s Downtown Master Plan. Many of his clients’ projects – from Brickell City Centre to Miami's Design District and the Faena District – have been groundbreaking, transforming Miami’s urban spaces with a blend of retail, office, and residential properties. In addition to large-scale projects, Neisen has represented clients in developments in emerging Miami neighborhoods such as Little Haiti and Wynwood.

Neisen is recognized by Chambers USA and The Legal 500 as a leading land use and zoning lawyer in Florida. Clients value his attention to detail and thorough knowledge of building codes and government agencies, as well as his deep understanding of what a neighborhood needs, what is achievable, and what challenges may arise in the future.

--Bio is from Chambers and Partners website

Joel Kleinman, M.D., Ph.D. is the Associate Director, Clinical Sciences and the Co-Director of the Molecular Neuropathology Section at the Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD), Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. He is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Kleinman is also on the board of directors for the Sheppard-Pratt Lieber Research Institute, a clinical research center focused on understanding the biology of schizophrenia, autism, and other developmental neuropsychiatric disorders.

Dr. Kleinman received his B.S. in Biochemistry in 1966, his M.D. in 1973, and his Ph.D. in Pharmacology in 1974 from the University of Chicago. He interned at San Francisco General Hospital (University of California Medical School in San Francisco) and completed a residency in psychiatry at Massachusetts Mental Health Center (Harvard Medical School) as well as a residency in Neurology at the George Washington University School of Medicine.

Over the last 41 years at the NIMH and LIBD he has helped to amass what is widely regarded as one of the best collections of postmortem human brains for the study of the molecular biology of brain development and related disorders, especially schizophrenia. He has been both a pioneer and leader in this area of research with over 350 peer-reviewed papers. Recently, his research has focused on allelic variation, alternative transcripts and epigenetic modifications in human brain development, schizophrenia and a number of other psychiatric disorders including bipolar disorder, depression and PTSD.

Meredith Porte is a producer, writer and host of Meredith Porte Productions which specializes in media programs and stories about the arts and community. She is deeply committed to projects which revolve around hope and transformation.

Meredith was previously a producer and host at WLRN-PUBLIC TELEVISION Channel 17 for over 35 years. Her Slice of Life series on WLRN Public Television which offered a glimpse into the lives of people in South Florida.(wlrn.org/slice of life) recently aired on the station. She recently produced and hosted the award winning arts program on WLRN-TV entitled Art Street which aired for 11 years. Some of the personalities she interviewed include Madeleine Albright, Dave Barry, Jane Seymour, and Andy Garcia.

Meredith also recently produced the Emmy nominated documentary Nature's Helping Hands: Everglades National Park. Another documentary she produced was Lotus House, A Place for New Beginnings. This program showed the remarkable success of homeless women and children whose lives were transformed through creativity , healthy eating ,yoga, education and compassion.

Other specials Meredith has produced include the National Pledge Special for Public Television with co-author of the Best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul books Jack Canfield called Making your Dreams Come True. Meredith also produced Memories of the Night: A Study of the Holocaust, a documentary about teaching the Holocaust to people from multi-cultural backgrounds. This program with an introduction by Nobel Peace Prize Winner Elie Weisel received a film and video award in the documentary category from the Louis Wolfson II Media History Center.

Meredith has been very active as the South Florida coordinator of Images and Voices of Hope, a non-profit organization in which journalists and artists come together to become more aware of how they can help create a better world. She was a Board Member and also on the national core team for Images and Voices. (now merged with The Peace Studio) She is now a Board Member of The Peace Studio (thepeacestudio.org) and is also coordinating South Florida conversations.

Born and raised on Miami Beach, Meredith attended Northwestern University, and also the University of Miami where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism.

--Bio taken from her LinkedIn website

Bruce Rogow is the Founding Professor of Law at Nova Southeastern University Law Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at which he taught from 1974 through 2014. In 1978-79, he was co-dean of the Law Center, and in 1984, Acting Dean. Before joining Nova in 1974, he was on the faculty at the University of Miami. Mr. Rogow has taught Civil Procedure, Federal Jurisdiction, Constitutional Law, Appellate Practice, Criminal Law and Legal Ethics. He began his career in 1964-1966 with the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee, representing civil rights workers in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.

Mr. Rogow has litigated extensively over the past 55 years. He has argued over 450 civil and criminal cases in federal and state appellate courts, including eleven cases in the Supreme Court of the United States. In the 2000 Presidential election litigation, he was counsel in the Supreme Court for the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board in Bush v. Palm Beach Co. Canvassing Bd.

Mr. Rogow has been listed in every edition of The Best Lawyers In America for the past thirty two years. In the 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014 editions he is named in multiple categories including: Appellate Law, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, White Collar Criminal Defense, First Amendment Law, and Municipal Litigation. In the 2015 and 2012 editions he was named "Miami Appellate Practice Lawyer of the Year," and in the 2014 edition was named "Miami Litigation-Municipal Lawyer of the Year." In the 2010 edition he was named the South Florida "Lawyer of the Year in ‘Bet-the-Company Litigation’." He has been listed in Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Florida Trend’s Legal Elite, Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition and Who’s Who Legal Business, Crime Defense 2015. Law Dragon has twice named him as one of the 500 leading lawyers in the United States. He is one of three lawyers in Florida to have been Board Certified in both civil and criminal appellate law. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and is also a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has been rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell for 35 years.

Mr. Rogow has also won numerous awards over the years for his public service, litigation, and teaching, including the Reginald Heber Smith Award from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and the Playboy Foundation First Amendment Award. He was the first Broward Legal Aid Advocacy Award recipient in 1999. In 2000, he was awarded the James C. Adkins Award, given to Florida’s outstanding appellate jurists or practitioners. He was the first practicing lawyer to receive the award. In 2006 he was a finalist for Most Effective Appellate Lawyer in South Florida and in 2007 he was named the Most Effective Appellate Lawyer in South Florida. In 2011, he was named Most Effective Class Action Lawyer for his MDL Bank Overdraft Litigation, and in 2012 Public Justice named him a "Trial Lawyer of the Year Finalist."

Mr. Rogow has served as a consultant to lawyers and legal aid organizations, and as an expert witness on attorneys’ fees; has lectured to judges and lawyers; writes, and has been President of the Legal Aid Society of Broward County, Florida, and Special Counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida, Special Counsel to The Florida Bar, Special Assistant Attorney General, and a Special Assistant State Attorney.

--Bio from the NSU website

Born in Pittsburgh, PA during the height of the Great Depression, Fred & his brothers lived above a successful bar his parents owned. During the 1940s, asthma forced their move to Miami Beach where Fred met his life-long friends. At Beach High, Fred became a Typhoon writer and photographer, and played Defensive Lineman.

He earned the second-ever to-be-issued bachelor’s degree in Communications at the University of Florida, just because he lost the coin-toss to the only other student in his graduating class. During his army years, his melodious voice kept him on the radio and out of Korea. He was editor of the army newsletter, too. Back home, he married his sweetheart, Betsy Shockett, and together they produced three daughters, Marci, Deborah, and Lisa.

Fred Singer created Coronado Studios in 1959, where he produced hundreds of television commericals, films, and videos for fifty years. He traveled the world for various clientele, filming both products’ ads and celebrities’ public relations work. Fred also founded South Florida Film and Tape Producers Association. Working for 2 years with Hall of Fame member Irv ‘Red’ Heller, Fred upgraded Miami-Dade Police Department’s recruiting programs by creating ‘tele-training,’ which later became a model for other police departments across the country. For the Jewish Federation, his award-winning documentary, "In their Own Words," told Holocaust survivors’ historic accounts from their horrific experiences during WWII -- some that their own children had never known before.

As a board member of our Beach High Alumni Association, Fred made over sixty pro-bono biographical videos for our annual Hall of Fame induction events. In 2002 he produced a 30-minute film of historic interviews with Beach High’s Typhoon & Hi-Tides alumni for the school’s 75th anniversary called The Paradise Project.

During the 1990s, Fred kept up with new technology, as computers, the internet, and digital transmission changed the way the world communicates. He partnered with Media Productions’ Bruce Solomon, who continues to make our alumni Hall of Fame videos as a living tribute to Fred’s memory. Fred and Betsy celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Always with a camera in his hand, Fred’s seven grandchildren, family and friends were all documented with his loving eyes.