Under the Arch

$1 MILLION GIFT TO CREATE UNIQUE ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Gannon University President Antoine M. Garibaldi announced today that Gannon alumnus Robert H. Morosky and his wife, Dianne, currently of Columbus, Ohio, and Key Largo, Florida, have contributed $1 million to Gannon to establish a unique endowed scholarship fund.

“We are very thankful for this generous gift from Bob and Dianne, who want to ensure that talented and hardworking local students will have as many opportunities as possible for a quality education and future,” Garibaldi said.

The Robert H. and Dianne Morosky Scholarship will, by the Moroskys’ choice, be restricted to academically and financially deserving students who are graduates of one of Erie’s six city high schools or who are city of Erie employees enrolled as Gannon students.

Longtime Erie Attorney Joseph T. Messina, Vice Chairman of Gannon’s Board of Trustees and a 1963 Gannon classmate of Morosky, echoed Garibaldi’s appreciation for the gift and noted that the uniqueness of the Morosky scholarship fund complements one of Garibaldi’s major initiatives since he came to Gannon in July 2001.

“The Moroskys still have strong roots in Erie, and their generosity to assist city high school students and City of Erie workers helps to further Dr. Garibaldi’s efforts to enroll more local students,” said Messina.

“My wife and I believe that higher education is essential, but we know from experience that it doesn’t come easy for some students and their parents,” said Mr. Morosky from his home in Columbus, where he is now president of the Robert H. Morosky Investment Company.

“This gift is our way of giving back to Gannon and investing in the future of deserving young Erie city high school graduates like us or those city of Erie employees who may be working their way through Gannon like I did.

“We also hope that our gift will motivate other Gannon alumni and friends to do the same and be as generous as they can be,” Morosky added.

Mr. Morosky, born and raised in the Russian neighborhood of Erie’s lower eastside, went on to become Chairman of Allied/Federated Department Stores, the world’s largest department store chain in 1988 at 47, graduated from East High School in 1959 and attended Penn State University on a football scholarship for two years before returning to Erie and paying his way through Gannon by working for the city of Erie as a garbage collector.

After graduating from Gannon with a degree in accounting in 1963, Mr. Morosky earned his MBA with honors in 1964 from the University of Cincinnati and began work as a CPA and consultant for the Arthur Anderson Company. In 1972 he left Arthur Anderson to accept the position of Vice Chairman of The Limited in Columbus, where he earned the reputation as “the best financial and creative guy in retailing.” He retired from The Limited in 1987, and less than a year later he assumed the direction of Allied/Federated Department Stores in New York City. He left Allied/Federated and returned to Columbus to form his private investment company in 1988.

Morosky’s wife, Dianne, also grew up in the same neighborhood in Erie and was one of the first women to attend Gannon as a part-time student in the early ’60s while working full-time as a paralegal.

For more than 20 years the Moroskys have been active leaders in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus. Mr. Morosky is the founder and chairman emeritus of the Columbus Diocese Catholic Foundation, where he and his wife co-chaired the diocese’s $10 million Parochial Education Campaign in 1987. He also created the National Society of Catholic Foundations, served on the Advisory Board of the Archdiocese of Miami’s $100 million campaign, and was Vice Chairman of the 1991 New York City Catholic Inner City Education Annual Drive.

For their work with the Catholic Church, the Moroskys were granted a private audience with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, where Mr. Morosky was awarded the church’s highest honor by the Pope and named a Knight of St. Gregory the Great.

Gannon University recognized Mr. Morosky as a Distinguished Alumnus in 1984 and awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1992.

OUR FOLKS

Please remember all in your prayers as regretfully we announce the deaths of:

Emma Rodriguez, mother of Mary Anne Rivera, assistant professor, theology.
Thelma Moloney, step-mother of alumna Judy Kelly (BS, 89; MS 99) and step-mother-in-law of Philip Kelly, professor, English.

OUR EVENTS

Friday, August 5 – Employee Family Picnic: Scheduled for 5-9 p.m. at the Gannon intramural field. The university will close at 4 p.m. Please RSVP to Cindy Mancini, ext. 7145, by Aug. 1. Events include a dinner, children’s area, pool, and bingo.
Friday-Saturday, August 12-13 – Gannon University’s Erie Chamber Orchestra: The orchestra will perform its 22^nd annual Music in the Air Summer Concert Series. The concerts will begin at 8 p.m. on the patio at Villa Maria Academy, 2405 West Eighth Street. For more information call ext. 7755 or 5467.
“Our Events” is intended to serve as a random sample of campus events. For a more complete listing, refer to Eventcal.

THE PRESIDENT'S SCHEDULE

Tuesday, August 2 – Welcome Remarks: annual Business Development Conference for U.S. Rep. Phil English. Wednesday-Thursday, August 3-4 – NCAA Presidents’ Council meetings. Friday, August 5 – Welcome Remarks: Volunteers In Service To America (VISTA) training luncheon; Gannon Community Picnic.

CURRENT BIRTHDAYS

Lisa May. Jeannie Kloecker. Mark Jubulis. Janet Hopkins. Mike Vitale. Margaret Juang. Joseph Cooley. Anthony Rao. Stephen Frezza. Kenneth Gamble. Richard Moodey. James Wortman. Lori Mushrush. Thomas Jones. William Cunningham. Robert Brooker. Evelyn Henson. Krista Yoder. Barbara Valenzuela. Rev. Michael Kesicki. James Miller. John Snyder. Thomas Parthenakis. Sgt. William Clark II. Anne Bolash. Joshua Jacobsen. Michele Potter. Joanne Bucceri. Bridget Hammar. Ivelisse Torres.

HEARD ON CAMPUS

Special thanks to Gannon colleagues for their continued assistance with media interview requests. Antoine M. Garibaldi did interviews with WSEE, WICU, and WJET on the $1 million gift to Gannon from Bob and Dianne Morosky (see above for more information). Robert Wallace, assistant professor of finance, did an interview with WSEE on the state of the local economy.
Gannon President Antoine M. Garibaldi has received an early renewal of his contract that extends him in his position as Gannon president through May 2009, according to Erie Bishop Donald W. Trautman, Chairperson of Gannon’s Board of Trustees. “Dr. Garibaldi’s original five-year contract would have taken him through May 2006, but in 2004, based on his first three years of exceptional leadership and sustained superior performance, the Board voted on a five-year early renewal covering the period May 2004-May 2009,” Bishop Trautman said. Garibaldi’s tenure to date has been marked by growth and progress in all key areas, including improved quality of academic programs, increased undergraduate and graduate enrollment, sound fiscal management and fundraising, enhanced educational technologies, campus upgrades to improve student quality of life, and extensive community and regional involvement. Gannon also has moved up several places into Tier One status in U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2005.” Additionally, Garibaldi was instrumental in securing Gannon’s largest grant ever in the fall of 2004 – $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Education.