Evelyn Piazza

Tim Piazza dreamed of one day helping children and veterans through development of state-of-the-art prosthetics. His parents, Jim and Evelyn, describe him as a “loving kid” who invested in relationships with his family, friends and girlfriend. Yet in 2017, at 19, Tim passed away after a fraternity hazing ritual, he was forced to drink at least 18 drinks in less than an hour and a half and suffered catastrophic injuries after a fall. Since then, Jim and Evelyn have been working to stop hazing. They were instrumental in passing a bill in Tim’s name to strengthen Pennsylvania’s and New Jersey’s hazing laws.  Also, they started the Timothy J. Piazza Memorial Foundation to provide help for people, especially children, who need prostheses; thus, doing their part to fulfill Tim’s dream.

The Piazzas live in Readington, NJ, and their son, Mike, is a graduate from Penn State. Jim is a partner in a large professional services firm and graduated from Rider University. Evelyn graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. The Piazzas are the recipients of The Hank Nuwer Anti-Hazing Hero Award in 2018. They also received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Drexel University in 2021 for their anti-hazing advocacy.