34. Gene Bernstein

To those who know him well, Gene Bernstein is a former English professor, a keen hedge fund investor and an avid golfer—his handicap is nine—who, if he did nothing else for Long Island, deserves lasting credit for bringing the first Senior PGA tournament here, the Northville Long Island Invitational, starting in 1987 at the Meadow Brook Club, where he still plays. In fact, among his outside interests, he’s on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Golf Association. He’s also on the Long Island Association’s Board of Directors and he’s a Trustee of Alfred University, where he matriculated before getting his PhD from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Before embarking on his present path, Bernstein was an assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame. For many years now, he’s been an integral part of Northville Industries, a Melville-based private company that is committed to “supplying the greenest petroleum products available.” His interests and pursuits have won him accolades from receiving the Long Island Association’s Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award in 2010 to getting the Greater Long Island Clean Cities Coalition’s “Environmental Excellence Award” last year.