New Jersey Hall of Fame


The New Jersey Hall of Fame is an organization that honors individuals from the U.S. state of New Jersey who have made contributions to society and the world beyond.
The Hall of Fame is a designated 501 non-profit organization, overseen by a board of trustees. It was statutorily authorized through Public Law 2005, Chapter 232. This bi-partisan legislation was passed unanimously in the New Jersey Senate on May 13, 2005, passed in the Assembly on June 30, 2005, and signed into law by the governor on September 22, 2005.
In June 2013 it introduced a "mobile museum" designed by Michael Graves and Ralph Applebaum which toured the state for more than 300,000 people over three years. In 2017, it opened a satellite exhibition of five holograms, posters and a ″Wall of Fame″ at Newark Airport. In September 2018 it was announced that the Hall of Fame would move to a permanent home at American Dream Meadowlands.

Format

The New Jersey Hall of Fame selects potential nominees in five categories: General, Enterprise, Sports, Arts & Entertainment, and Historical. With only rare exceptions, nominees must have resided in New Jersey for a period of at least five years. Selection of inductees is done using a three-phase process. Phase I is conducted by a group of expert panelists selected by the New Jersey Hall of Fame Board, who compose a list of 20 individuals in each category. Phase II incorporates a group of over 100 prominent organization throughout New Jersey who narrow the field down to 6 individuals in each category. Phase III uses a public voting system via the internet and manual ballots. Upon completion of Phase III, the New Jersey Hall of Fame Board selects its inductees based on the top vote-getter in each category, as well as others the board deems deserving.

Induction ceremony

The first class of inductees was honored in an induction ceremony at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on May 4, 2008.

2008-2010 inductees

2008 inductees

The inaugural class of inductees for the New Jersey Hall of Fame were announced in a press conference on October 25, 2007, by Governor Jon Corzine.
HistoricalEnterpriseArts & EntertainmentSportsGeneral

  • Buzz Aldrin
  • Malcolm Forbes
  • Robert Wood Johnson II
  • Frank Sinatra
  • Bruce Springsteen
  • Yogi Berra
  • Bill Bradley
  • Vince Lombardi
  • Toni Morrison
  • Norman Schwarzkopf
  • Harriet Tubman
  • 2009 inductees

    The 2009 class of inductees for the New Jersey Hall of Fame were announced on February 2, 2009. The induction ceremony was held May 3, 2009, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
    HistoricalEnterpriseArts & EntertainmentSportsGeneral

  • Guglielmo Marconi
  • Carl Sagan
  • Bud Abbott & Lou Costello
  • Jon Bon Jovi
  • Jerry Lewis
  • Althea Gibson
  • Shaquille O'Neal
  • Phil Rizzuto
  • F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • William Carlos Williams
  • 2010 inductees

    The 2010 class of inductees for the New Jersey Hall of Fame were announced on December 3, 2009. The induction ceremony was held May 2, 2010, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.
    HistoricalEnterpriseArts & EntertainmentSportsGeneral

  • Michael Graves
  • Wally Schirra
  • Count Basie
  • Danny DeVito
  • Jack Nicholson
  • Susan Sarandon
  • Frankie Valli
  • Larry Doby
  • Carl Lewis
  • Judy Blume
  • William Brennan
  • Philip Roth
  • 2011-2020 inductees

    2011 Inductees

    For list of inductees, see footnote
    HistoricalEnterpriseArts & EntertainmentSportsGeneral

  • Leon Hess
  • Tony Bennett
  • Queen Latifah
  • John "Bucky" Pizzarelli
  • John Travolta
  • Bruce Willis
  • Franco Harris
  • Joe Theismann
  • Brendan Byrne
  • Mary Higgins Clark
  • William "Bull" Halsey
  • The 9/11 Victims were also given a special induction.

    2012 inductees

    For a list of inductees, see footnote Ten members of the Class of 2012 were inducted on Saturday, June 9, 2012, during a ceremony at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center: Milt Campbell, John Dorrance, Michael Douglas, Bob Hurley, Wellington Mara, Samuel I. Newhouse, Annie Oakley, Joyce Carol Oates, Christopher Reeve, and Sarah Vaughan.
    The eleventh member of the Class of 2012 – the E Street Band – will be inducted at a future date. The Unsung Hero Award was given to Eric LeGrand, the paralyzed former Rutgers University defensive tackle.
    HistoricalEnterpriseEntertainmentSportsGeneralUnsung Hero

  • John Dorrance
  • E Street Band
  • Michael Douglas
  • Christopher Reeve
  • Sarah Vaughan
  • Milt Campbell
  • Bob Hurley
  • Wellington Mara
  • Joyce Carol Oates
  • Eric LeGrand
  • 2013 inductees

    For a list of inductees, see footnote
    HistoricalEnterpriseEntertainmentSportsGeneralUnsung Hero

  • Bobbi Brown
  • Raymond G. Chambers
  • David Sarnoff
  • Alice Guy-Blaché
  • Celia Cruz
  • Whitney Houston
  • J. Seward Johnson
  • Joe Piscopo
  • Dionne Warwick
  • Joetta Clark Diggs
  • "Jersey Joe" Walcott
  • Tom Kean
  • Kathleen DiChiara
  • 2014 inductees

    For a list of inductees, see footnote
    Arts & LettersEnterprisePerformance ArtsPublic ServiceSportsUnsung Hero

  • Howard Katz
  • Alice Waters
  • Dizzy Gillespie
  • James Gandolfini
  • The Shirelles
  • James Florio
  • Peter J. McGuire
  • Elizabeth Cady Stanton
  • Patrick Ewing
  • Maud Dahme
  • 2015 inductees

    For a list of inductees, see footnote
    Arts & LettersEnterprisePerforming ArtsPublic ServiceSportsUnsung Hero

  • William Fox
  • Lewis Katz
  • Bernard Marcus
  • Kool & the Gang
  • Jon Stewart
  • Jack H. Jacobs
  • Frank Lautenberg
  • Derek Jeter
  • Christie Pearce
  • Dick Vitale
  • Carla Harris
  • 2016 inductees

    For a list of inductees, see footnote
    Arts & LettersEnterprisePerforming ArtsPublic ServiceSportsUnsung Hero

  • Alfred Koeppe
  • Arthur Imperatore Sr.
  • Kelly Ripa
  • Ray Liotta
  • Tommy James
  • Wyclef Jean
  • Peace Pilgrim
  • Philip Kearny
  • Carol Blazejowski
  • Chuck Wepner
  • Ed Goldstein
  • Sue Goldstein
  • 2017 inductees

    For a list of inductees, see footnote
    Arts & LettersEnterprisePerforming ArtsPublic ServiceSports

  • Joe Buckelew
  • Steve Forbes
  • Jon F. Hanson
  • Buddy Valastro
  • The Four Seasons
  • Gloria Gaynor
  • Debbie Harry
  • Steven Van Zandt
  • Millicent Fenwick
  • Mark Kelly
  • Scott Kelly
  • Clara Maass
  • Al Leiter
  • Carli Lloyd
  • 2018 inductees

    For a list of inductees, see footnote
    Arts & LettersEnterprisePerforming ArtsPublic ServiceSports

  • J. Fletcher Creamer Sr.
  • F. M. Kirby II
  • Tim McLoone
  • Mary Roebling
  • Arthur F. Ryan
  • Martha Stewart
  • Jason Alexander
  • Southside Johnny Lyon
  • The Smithereens
  • Elizabeth A. Allen
  • Victor Parsonnet
  • Harry Carson
  • Anne Donovan
  • Laurie Hernandez
  • Bart Oates
  • 2019-2020 inductees

    For a list of inductees, see footnote These two years had their inductees jointly awarded.
    Arts & LettersEnterprisePerforming ArtsPublic ServiceSports

  • Fairleigh Dickinson
  • Linda Bowden
  • Steve Kalafer
  • Borg Family
  • Joseph Simunovich
  • Ed Harris
  • Ernie Kovacs
  • Emily "Cissy" Houston
  • Clerow "Flip" Wilson
  • John Amos
  • Nelson Family
  • Danny Aiello
  • Milton Friedman
  • Virginia Apgar
  • Martin Dempsey
  • Jane Frances Brady
  • Richard "Rick" Dennis Barry III
  • Elisha "Eli" Nelson Manning
  • Gerry Cooney
  • Robert Mulcahy III
  • C. Vivian Stringer
  • 2021-2030 inductees

    2021 inductees

    For a list of inductees, see footnote
    Arts & LettersEnterprisePerforming ArtsPublic ServiceSports

  • Madeline McWhinney Dale
  • Madam Louise Scott
  • Paul Volcker
  • Sara Spencer Washington
  • George Benson
  • Sarah Dash
  • Mary Chapin Carpenter
  • Margaret Bancroft
  • Alexander Hamilton
  • David Mixner
  • William Paterson
  • Gustave F. Perna
  • Antonin Scalia
  • Val Ackerman
  • Monte Irvin
  • 2022 inductees

    For a list of inductees, see footnote
    Arts & LettersEnterprisePerforming ArtsPublic ServiceSportsUnsung Heroes

  • The Unanue Family
  • Dr. Roy Vagelos
  • Ralph Izzo
  • Max Weinberg
  • Chelsea Handler
  • Gov. Richard J. Hughes
  • Dorothea Dix
  • Heather O'Reilly
  • Ron Jaworski
  • NJ Medal of Honor Recipients
  • 2023 inductees

    For a list of inductees, see footnote
    Arts & LettersEnterprisePerforming ArtsPublic ServiceSportsUnsung Heroes

  • Finn Wentworth
  • Josh S. Weston
  • David Chase
  • Tony Orlando
  • Patti Scialfa
  • Steve Adubato Sr.
  • Charles Edison
  • George Shultz
  • Tiki Barber
  • Sue Wicks
  • Anna Diaz-White
  • Michael Fux
  • 2024 inductees

    For a list of inductees, see footnote
    Arts & LettersEducation & ScienceEnterprisePerforming ArtsPublic ServiceSportsUnsung Heroes

  • Elizabeth Coleman White
  • John Forbes Nash
  • Avi Wigderson
  • George Cooney
  • Peter Cancro
  • Donald Katz
  • Lesley Gore
  • Warren Littlefield
  • Paul Rudd
  • Kevin Smith
  • Meryl Streep
  • Father Edwin D. Leahy
  • Geraldine Livingston Thompson
  • Dick Button
  • Tim Howard
  • Ron Johnson
  • Phil Simms
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