The Cake Boss, the author of Jaws, a two-time Academy Award winner, a former Giants quarterback and the man who killed Alexander Hamilton are among the 50 nominees for the New Jersey Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016.
Since inducting its first class of honorees in 2008, the Hall of Fame has celebrated dozens of talented personalities, revolutionary thinkers and innovative business people who made their marks in the Garden State. This year’s potential inductees include nominees in the fields of arts & letters; enterprise; performing arts; public service; and sports.
The 50 nominees were chosen in a vote by a special Academy of Voters. The final list of inductees will be determined in a public vote. Online public voting is open until November 27.
This will be the ninth class of inductees; they will be honored at a ceremony on May 7 at the Asbury Park Convention Hall.
Here are the 2016 nominees, as divided into five categories by the Hall of Fame:
Arts & Letters
Peter Benchley, Jaws author; Anthony Bourdain, chef; Carol Higgins Clark, author; Stephen Crane, author; Connie Chung, news anchor; Joyce Kilmer, author; Fran Lebowitz, author; John Nash, mathematician; Charles Osgood, CBS News host; and George Segal, sculptor.
Enterprise
James Burke, CEO of Johnson & Johnson; Doris Duke, heiress; Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes; Sam Halpern, president of Atlantic Realty; Woody Johnson, grandson of Robert Wood Johnson; Mark & Scott Kelly, the only siblings to have both traveled in space; Alfred Koeppe, former president and COO of Bell Atlantic and PSEG; engineer Henry Rowan, benefactor of Rowan University; Arthur F. Ryan, first outsider to become CEO of Prudential Insurance; and Cake Boss star Buddy Valastro.
Performing Arts
Jason Alexander, Seinfeld’s George Costanza; George Benson, Grammy-winning musician; David Copperfield, illusionist; Connie Francis, singer; Ed Harris, Academy Award-nominated actor; Wyclef Jean, rapper; Ray Liotta, Goodfellas and Field of Dreams star; Kelly Ripa, 15-year co-host of Live! ; Nancy Sinatra, singer and daughter of Frank Sinatra; and House of Cards star Kevin Spacey, a two-time Academy Award winner.
Public Service
Aaron Burr, America’s third vice president and slayer of Alexander Hamilton; Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize-winning economist; Edith Savage Jennings, civil rights activist; Phillip Kearny, U.S. Army officer; Clara Maass, nurse, namesake of Clara Maass Medical Center; Peace Pilgrim, spiritual teacher; Molly Pitcher, hero of the Battle of Monmouth; Antonin Scalia, longest-serving Supreme Court Justice; Richard Stockton, Declaration of Independence signer, namesake of Stockton University; and economist Paul Volcker.
Sports
Rick Barry, NBA star; Carol Blazejowski, professional women’s basketball star and former president of WNBA New York Liberty; Dick Button, Olympic figure skater; Mary Decker, Olympic track star; Rosey Grier, two-time NFL Pro Bowler; Orel Hershiser, three-time MLB All-Star; Carli Lloyd, soccer star and two-time Olympic gold-medal winner; Willis Reed, New York Knicks star; Phil Simms, football Giants quarterback; and heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner.