A look at the New Jersey Hall of Fame Class of 2012 nominees by category:
History
For deceased New Jerseyans whose contributions transcend categories.
— Aaron Burr. Newark (1756-1836). Attended Princeton University, served in Revolutionary War Army and was vice president under Thomas Jefferson.
— Alice Guy Blache. Fort Lee, Mahwah (1873-1968). French filmmaker who became the first female director in the motion picture industry; helped make Fort Lee the first film capital of America.
— Annie Oakley. Nutley (1860-1926). The major attraction at Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show captivated audiences by shooting pistols, rifles and shotguns. Her life was immortalized through Irving Berlin's musical "Annie Get Your Gun."
— Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Tenafly (1850-1902). Activist, abolitionist and a leading figure in the early woman's right movement.
— Grover Cleveland. Caldwell (1837-1908). The only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms, still praised by historians for honesty, independence and good character.
— Irene Hill Smith. Woodbury (1926-2011). Led the NAACP, marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights legislation and served governors and presidents.
— Molly Pitcher. Trenton, Monmouth (1754-1832). Fought alongside her husband in Revolutionary War, carrying pitchers of clean water to soldiers during the Battle of Monmouth.
— Richard Stockton. Princeton (1730-1781). The first person from New Jersey to sign the Declaration of Independence, state Supreme Court justice, New Jersey representative in the Continental Congress.
— Selman Waksman. New Brunswick (1888-1973). Russian immigrant known as the "Father of Antibiotics" discovered more than 20 medications. Won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1952 for discovering the first antibiotic to cure tuberculosis.
— Thomas Paine. Bordentown (1737-1809). A great thinker born in England, he immigrated to the colonies in 1774 where he was an author, pamphleteer, revolutionary and leading intellectual in pre-Revolutionary War efforts.
Arts & Entertainment
For musicians, singers, songwriters, actors and actresses, artists, dancers and those who work in related fields.
— Alan Alda. Leonia (1936- ). Actor, director and screenwriter best known for his role as "Hawkeye Pierce" in the TV series "M(asterisk)A(asterisk)S(asterisk)H," for which he was nominated for 21 Emmy Awards and won five.
—Celia Cruz. Fort Lee (1925-2003). Salsa singer from Havana, Cuba, who helped popularize salsa music in the U.S. with 23 certified gold albums.
— Christopher Reeve. Princeton (1952-2004). Most remembered for his role as "Superman" in the movies, he became a quadriplegic after a horse riding accident and later lobbied on behalf of people with spinal cord injuries.
— Connie Francis. Newark (1938- ). Chart-topping singer during the 1950s and 1960s and among the first worldwide pop stars.
— Dionne Warwick. East Orange (1940- ). The Grammy-award winning singer ranks second, behind Aretha Franklin, as the most popular female vocalist ever, with 56 chart singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
— Dizzy Gillespie. Englewood (1917-1993). Renowned jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, composer and teacher. Pioneered Afro-Cuban jazz and has won several Grammy Awards.
— The E Street Band. Asbury Park (1974- ). Immortalized as Bruce Springsteen's band, the group has recorded with a wide range of artists from Bob Dylan to The Grateful Dead.
— Joe Piscopo. Passaic (1951- ). Comedian, actor, musician, singer and true Jersey guy.
— Michael Douglas. New Brunswick (1944- ). Actor rewarded with three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards.
— Sarah Vaughn. Newark (1924-1990). She won an Amateur Night performance at the Apollo Theater, opened for Ella Fitzgerald and became one of the greatest jazz singers. Winner of a Grammy Award and the National Endowment for the Arts' Jazz Masters Award.
Enterprise
For scientists, business leaders, inventors, leaders in medicine, entrepreneurs and philanthropists.
— Alfred Vail. Morristown (1807-1859). Inventor and mechanic who helped Samuel Morse develop and commercialize the telegraph. Was also the recipient, in Baltimore, of Morse's famous first telegraph message: "What hath God wrought!"
— Alice Waters. Chatham (1944- ). Chef who champions locally grown fresh ingredients and has attracted national attention for promoting food education in schools and being an advocate of a stimulus package that tries to give every child in the public school system free breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack.
— David Sarnoff. Princeton, Camden, (1891-1971). "The father of electronic communications" formed the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the Radio Corporation of America (RCA).
— Dr. James Still. Moorestown (1812-1882). Known as "the black doctor of the Pinelands," he used herbs and botanical remedies he devised to treat large numbers of patients, despite having no formal training as a physician.
— Elizabeth Coleman White. New Lisbon, Pemberton (1871-1954). Introduced the nation's first cultivated blueberry, was the first to use cellophane to package blueberries and helped organize the New Jersey Blueberry Cooperative Association.
— John Dorrance. Cinnaminson (1873-1930). A chemist who went to work for the Joseph Campbell Preserve Co., now the Campbell Soup Co., where he invented condensed soup. He was later the company's president for 16 years, turning the business into a household name.
— John Roebling. Trenton, Roebling (1806-1869). A German-born civil engineer, he originated the wire rope suspension bridge design, the same design he used to build the Brooklyn Bridge.
— Mary G. Roebling. Trenton (1905-1994). Broke the glass ceiling for women in business, particularly in banking and financial services. Was the first female governor of the American Stock Exchange.
— Paul Volcker. Teaneck (1927- ). A leading economist who chaired the Federal Reserve under Presidents Carter and Reagan.
— Samuel I. Newhouse. Bayonne (1895-1979). Publisher and media giant who founded Advance Publications, which now owns The Star-Ledger and the magazines Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker.
Sports
For athletes, coaches and others in the field of sports.
— Bill Parcells. Englewood (1941- ). The former head coach of the New York Giants, New York Jets and New England Patriots, he has won three Super Bowls and is now the Miami Dolphins' executive vice president of football operations.
— Bob Hurley. Jersey City (1947- ). Amassed 26 state championships and more than 1,000 wins in 39 years at St. Anthony High School. Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, he has turned down many college coaching offers.
— Carol Blazejowski. Elizabeth, Nutley (1956- ). Three-time All-American basketball player for Montclair State University who played in the now-defunct Women's Pro Basketball League before becoming the president and general manager of the WNBA's New York Liberty team in 2008.
— Ed Sabol. Atlantic City (1916- ). Was selected for the 1936 Olympic team and later founded NFL Films; elected to Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
— Mary Decker Slaney. Bunnvale (1958- ). A distance runner, she holds seven American records in her sport. Was the first woman to break the 4:20 mark for the mile.
— Milt Campbell. Plainfield (1933- ). The first African-American to win a gold medal in the decathlon of the Summer Olympic Games, he also played football for the Cleveland Browns and the Montreal Alouettes.
— Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier. Roselle (1932- ). Playing for Penn State University, he earned a place in the NCAA's 100th anniversary list of 100 influential student athletes and was a part of the Los Angeles Rams' "Fearsome Foursome."
— Wellington T. Mara. East Rutherford (1916-2005). New York Giants owner who was responsible for bringing the team to New Jersey in 1976.
— Monte Irvin. Orange (1919- ). Baseball Hall of Famer and Negro League standout, he followed Jackie Robinson in breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball.
— Dick Vitale. Passaic (1939- ). Broadcasting icon who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005. Previously coached college and professional basketball for Rutgers, University of Detroit and the Detroit Pistons.
General
Catchall category for educators, military leaders, writers, poets, scholars, artists and others.
— Alexander Calder. Hoboken (1898-1976). Artist and sculptor who is best known for inventing the mobile.
— Alfred Stieglitz. Hoboken (1864-1946). Photography and modern art promoter and New York gallery owner who helped make photography an accepted art form. Married to painter Georgia O'Keefe.
— Charles Addams. Westfield (1912-1988). Cartoonist whose characters became known as The Addams Family, inspiring two television shows, three movies and a Broadway musical.
— Doris Duke. Hillsborough (1912-1993). Heiress, horticulturalist and art collector who became a great philanthropist, supporting wildlife refuge, environmental conservation, historic preservation, medical research and child welfare.
— Dorothy Parker. Long Branch (1893-1967). Acclaimed writer who founded the famed Algonquin Round Table. Two-time Academy Award nominee for screenwriting.
— Dorothy Porter Wesley. Montclair (1905-1990). The first African-American woman to receive bachelor's and master's degrees from Columbia University, she organized the Mooreland-Spingarn Research Center and wrote about Black Studies.
—Joyce Carol Oates. Princeton (1938- ). National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prize nominee, she is a professor in creative writing at Princeton University, where she has taught since 1978.
— Milton Friedman. Rahway (1912-2006). Nobel Prize-winning economist is among the most influential and honored in his field.
— Thomas Nast. Morristown (1840-1902). German-born caricaturist who is considered the father of political cartoons. He is credited with creating the iconic drawings of the Republican Party elephant, the Democratic Party donkey and Columbia, the image of America as a woman.
— Gov. Tom Kean Sr. Bedminster (1935- ). New Jersey's 48th governor chaired the 9/11 Commission and was a longtime president of Drew University.