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Release Date: 
Monday, May 3, 2010

Karl Fava to be honored at Saturday's commencement

HFCC to present Distinguished Service Award to Karl Fava at 2010 commencement

Henry Ford Community College will hold two commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 8 at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, located at 15801 Michigan Ave. in Dearborn. HFCC President Gail Mee will confer the degrees on the graduates.

The morning ceremony will be at 10 a.m. and the afternoon ceremony will be at 1:30 p.m. 

Business owner Karl Fava of Dearborn will receive the 2010 Distinguished Service Award at the afternoon ceremony. Fava is immediate past chairman of the HFCC Foundation Board of Directors. The HFCC Foundation raises money from private sources to fund scholarships for students and support HFCC’s academic programs.

Instituted in 1978, the Distinguished Service Award honors those who have made significant contributions toward excellence in education, and particularly, to HFCC. The award is intended to honor those, who, over the years, have made significant contributions toward excellence in education, and particularly, to HFCC.

Fava has been chosen for this special award for his outstanding civic, educational, and business accomplishments, and his unwavering philanthropic support of HFCC, explained HFCC President Gail Mee.

'Mr. Fava is an extraordinary role model for all citizens and has a deep commitment to higher education and to helping the residents of Dearborn and metropolitan Detroit better their lives through education,' said Mee. 'He has worked tirelessly to raise funds for scholarships and academic programs to help HFCC students achieve their educational and career goals.'

Fava is founder and president of Business Financial Consultants, Inc., located in Dearborn. A certified public accountant, Fava founded his business consulting firm in 1991 that specializes in financial, tax, valuation and management issues as they relate to businesses and their owners. His firm handles tax and financial matters on five continents and has clients in major cities across the United States.

Fava has been a member of the Henry Ford Community College Foundation Board of Directors since 1998. Last year, he served as chairman of the Foundation Board of Directors, leading the efforts of the HFCC Foundation in raising money to support HFCC scholarships and academic programs. For many years, he has been a financial donor to HFCC, supporting student scholarships. Fava also is a long-time member of the Michael Adray Memorial Golf Tournament committee, which supports the HFCC Community High Schools’ Scholarship Program that provides $1,000 each to 100 local high school graduates each year to attend Henry Ford Community College.

Fava has a bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Houston and holds a master of business administration degree from the Edwin L. Cox School of Graduate Business at Southern Methodist University. Before founding his own firm, he was a senior manager at Deloitte & Touche in Detroit and Los Angeles specializing in taxation, finance and accounting. He also was a tax specialist at KPMG Peat Marwick and assistant controller for Brandt & Lawson, Inc., both located in Houston.

In addition to his service to Henry Ford Community College, Fava has been active in many civic and professional organizations. He is a member of the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Fava has been active with many community organizations, including the Exchange Club of Dearborn, the Dearborn Inter-Service Club Council, the Dearborn Goodfellows and the Boy Scouts of America..

HFCC offers more than 100 associate degree university transfer and career programs. The college serves more than 19,000 students each semester. For more information about HFCC, go to www.hfcc.edu.

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