Joseph Grano’s Awards
Business executive Joseph J. Grano, Jr. is the multi-award winning CEO of Centurion Holdings LLC. He is the recipient of several plums recognizing his deeds both in business and in philanthropy.
In a 1987 poll conducted by the Investment Dealers’ Digest, Joseph Grano emerged as the “best retail marketing executive” in business. In 2000, Georgetown University’s School of Business named him Business Leader of the Year. On the same year, he became the USO Gold Medalist for Distinguished Service, the 39th in history.
He received a medallion in 1996: the coveted Ellis Island Medal of Honor. For his philanthropy in education, the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund gave him the Corporate Leadership Award in 2002.
Joseph Grano, who is of Italian descent, has done much to uphold the culture of his mother country. Attesting to this, the Italian-American community presented him the La Bellissima America award in 1998.
Grano has served in the US Army, where he stood out as one of the youngest. He specifically served in the Green Berets, where he eventually went up to the position of Captain.
Then he embarked on a 16-year career with Merrill Lynch. He clinched high-ranking positions within this time span, including the directorship of national sales.
PaineWebber hired Grano in 1988. By 1994, he was already the president of the PaineWebber Group. His presidency saw the group take over such firms as J.C. Bradford and Kidder, Peabody.
Joseph Grano paved the way for the merger of UBS and PaineWebber in 2000. He became the chairman and CEO of the resulting company, now known as UBS Financial Services.
Grano finished honorary degrees in laws and humane letters from Pepperdine University and Queens College - City University of New York, respectively.
