As SFBW counts down the days to the Apogee Awards celebration on Oct. 21 at the NSU Art Museum in Fort Lauderdale, we’ll have biographies about the winners in each of the eight Apogee categories: chairman, CEO, president, COO, CFO, CMO, CIO and top HR executive.

Click here to register for the event, which is presented by the Octagon Family of Recruiting Companies (including its divisions of Octagon Technology Staffing and Octagon Professional Recruiting). Other sponsors include Quantified IT, Tripp Scott, BankUnited, Comcast Business and NSU Art Museum.

Here are the president biographies:

 

Broward: J. David Armstrong Jr., Broward College

 

J. David Armstrong Jr. brings more than 25 years of experience as a state and national leader in higher education and economic development to his presidency at Broward College. He leads one of the largest and most diverse colleges in America, enrolling nearly 70,000 students from more than 150 different nations of origin.

Under his leadership, the college has transitioned from being a traditional community college to offering baccalaureate programs in targeted workforce areas. The college has been ranked among the top 10 community colleges in the nation, after having been named among the top 10 percent of community colleges for the past two years by the Washington, D.C.-based Aspen Institute.

 

Previously, Armstrong was the chancellor of the Florida Community College System and chairman of Leadership Florida and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance.

 

Miami-Dade: Michael D. Katz, Katz Barron

Michael D. Katz is a founding member of Katz Barron, a full-service law firm with offices in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Katz began his practice in 1970 in Miami and Boca Raton. He was general counsel to Leonard L. Farber Company, a major developer of regional shopping centers.

 

Katz currently represents major commercial, retail and multifamily developers, lending institutions and general contractors. His areas of practice include commercial litigation, real estate acquisition, financing, development, leasing and litigation involving real estate, construction and business organization. He has experience in generational wealth transfer, administration of estates and trusts and business succession planning. He is counsel to the Ocean Reef Club and the Fisher Island Club.

 

Katz is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, has been included in Florida’s Super Lawyers annual list since 2006 and has been listed as a Best Lawyer in America since 2009.

 

Palm Beach: Richard Hayduk, Boca Raton Resort & Club

 

Richard Hayduk is more than a steward of the iconic Boca Raton Resort & Club, a Waldorf Astoria Resort, he is ensuring the resort reflects the energy and vibrancy of Boca Raton. He has overseen the completion of a $30 million renovation and the addition of a FlowRider and surf lessons to help broaden the resort’s family appeal.

 

Hayduk has more than 25 years of experience in international luxury resort, hotel and country club management. He was previously regional managing director for LXR Luxury Resorts in the Sanibel area, vice president for the Cliffs communities in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, and general manager of Grand Caribbean Resorts Ltd. in Great Exuma, Bahamas. He also spent 16 years at The Breakers Palm Beach and has international experience at Hotel d’Angleterre in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Grand Hotel Continental in Munich, Germany.