NEW YORK, April 28, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- University of Michigan- Dearborn 1984 graduate Anthony Viscogliosi will address the issue of leadership during the school's graduation ceremony this Sunday.
For more than two decades, Mr. Viscogliosi has been instrumental in creating innovative spinal implants and other devices for treating orthopaedic disease and injury. He's the Chairman and CEO of Small Bone Innovations, Inc. and Principal and Founder of Viscogliosi Bros., LLC, a venture capital/private equity and merchant banking firm dedicated to the $30 billion musculoskeletal/orthopaedics sector of the health care industry.
Mr. Viscogliosi, who received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a minor in Business Administration from the school, will keynote the ceremony, which begins at 2:30 p.m. this Sunday, for the graduating classes of the School of Education and College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters. The ceremony will be held in the Fieldhouse on the UM-Dearborn campus.
Also during the ceremony, Chancellor Daniel Little, Ph.D. will present to Mr. Viscogliosi the school's Distinguished Leadership Award. Dearborn's six-term Mayor Michael A. Guido is a previous recipient. This is the second such award Mr. Viscogliosi has received in less than a year. In November, 2005, he and his brothers, John and Marc, were named the first ever recipients of New York University Hospital for Joint Disease's Industry Leader Award.
Mr. Viscogliosi says: "Leadership takes effort and endurance, particularly when you're under great pressure. Each of us is capable of leadership but you have to be able to recognize it in yourself." He noted that, as a teen living in Dearborn, he was a victim of a life threatening auto vs. bicycle accident that hospitalized him for some time.
"What I learned gave my life more meaning, a mission -- that I could help myself by helping others -- in the field of orthopaedics," he adds.
Though he now resides in New York City, Mr. Viscogliosi, a Dearborn native, remains deeply involved in the local community.
Since 2003, he and his brothers have committed $250,000 to Dearborn Public Schools Education Foundation and $100,000 to UM-Dearborn to establish the Viscogliosi Speaker Series: educational seminars on current manufacturing and business topics for the southeastern Michigan business community.
Last year the Viscogliosi brothers also donated an extremely rare, century-old Jacquard industrial loom to The Henry Ford Museum as "symbolic of the spirit and work ethic of this part of America."
Mr. Viscogliosi is available for comment and interviews today, Friday, April 28 and tomorrow, Saturday, April 29. Please contact Chris Storer to arrange: 203.952.6403 or cstorer@creativepartners.com.
About Viscogliosi Bros., LLC
Established by Marc R. Viscogliosi, John J. Viscogliosi and Anthony G. Viscogliosi in New York City in 1999, VB was the first venture capital/private equity and merchant banking firm dedicated to the musculoskeletal/orthopaedics sector of the health care industry.
Today, VB is a leading independent firm with a mission to create, build and finance companies founded on innovations developed by surgeons and uniquely focused on "life changing" musculoskeletal/orthopaedic technologies. VB has worldwide surgeon, industry and trade relationships and significant financial expertise in the musculoskeletal/orthopaedic sector.
As principals of VB, the Viscogliosi brothers have a combined total of more than 35 years experience analyzing and investing in the musculoskeletal/orthopaedics sector. They have pioneered innovative financial, strategic and management initiatives for companies in the sector, from start-up, seed and development stage all the way to exit, while helping thousands of people lead better lives through the orthopedic and spinal products marketed and sold by the companies they have assisted in developing and financing.
For more information about VB, please visit: www.vbllc.com
About Small Bone Innovations, Inc.
Small Bone Innovations, Inc. was founded in 2004 by Viscogliosi Bros., LLC, (VB), the New York-based merchant banking firm that specializes in the musculoskeletal /orthopaedic sector. VB created SBI as the first company to focus purely on small bone and joint science. By integrating established companies and professionals in the field, SBI today offers a broad, clinically proven portfolio of products and technology to treat trauma and diseases in small bones and joints.
VB's acquisitions and technology licenses include: Avanta Orthopaedics, Inc. (hand/wrist/elbow arthroplasty and trauma products -- USA); Envision, Inc. (implant manufacturing -- USA); Actipore(tm) (porous metal technology -- Canada); Artelon (r)(biologically active and biodegradable technology -- Sweden); Xtremi-T, LLC (resorbable trauma technology -- USA); and Fixano, S.A.S. (broad line of small bone and joint implants -- France).
SBI completed a Series B financing, raising a record total of $42.2 million, in December, 2005. Based on data provided by Venture Source, this transaction was the largest venture capital investment ever recorded in the field of orthopedic devices.
For more information about SBI, visit: www.totalsmallbone.com