Under the Arch     October 1, 2007     Volume IX, Number 6

MOROSKY ’63 BECOMES UNIVERSITY’S LARGEST DONOR AFTER NEW GIFT

A Gannon alumnus and member of the University’s Board of Trustees, Mr. Robert H. Morosky, has agreed to donate a major gift to Gannon to name the University’s latest building acquisition located at 150 West Tenth Street, formerly known as the Verizon building.  The Robert H. Morosky Academic Center will house a new College at Gannon that will be named in honor of Mr. Morosky and will primarily include health professions programs.

Born and raised on Erie’s lower eastside, Mr. Morosky worked full-time for the City of Erie while enrolled as a student at Gannon. Mr. Morosky graduated from Gannon in 1963 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. “We are very excited about and grateful for this generous gift from Mr. Morosky. He is a dedicated alumnus and Trustee. The new building and the College will be named in his honor for his time, expertise and financial contributions to Gannon University and the Catholic Church,” said Antoine M. Garibaldi, Ph.D., President.

The University’s enrollment of 4,134 students this fall is its largest total enrollment in 15 years. The University’s signature health science programs, including physician assistant, physical therapy, occupational therapy, nursing, sport and exercise science, respiratory care, radiological sciences and medical technology have also experienced record growth. Over the past five years, enrollment in these health science programs has grown by 42% and currently represents over 25% of Gannon’s student body. This new building and the College will enable the University’s dynamic faculty to provide the latest technological resources, and cutting-edge laboratories necessary to enhance faculty and student research, and the overall teaching and learning environment.

“You seldom remember people in the past-- even the winners in life, but you do remember those who cared about you. Gannon University cares about its students with its great faculty and its administrators. It is Gannon who should be remembered and their efforts celebrated in the tradition of believe in the possibilities,” said Mr. Robert Morosky.

Mr. Morosky’s major gift brings the total monies raised in Gannon’s Power to Transform Comprehensive Campaign to $23,654,449 which is 79% of the total $30 million Campaign goal.  The Campaign is focused on strengthening Gannon’s Endowment and the Annual Fund, increasing support for faculty research, development, and student scholarships, and improving facilities.

This new donation is Mr. Morosky’s second major gift to Gannon in the last two years. In July of 2005, Mr. Morosky and his wife, Dianne, who also grew up in Erie and was one of the first women to take classes at Gannon in the sixties, donated $1 million to the University to create the Robert H. and Dianne Morosky Endowed Scholarship Fund.  This scholarship is designated for students with financial need, who are employees of the City of Erie and enrolled as Gannon students, and for academically and financially deserving students who are graduates of one of Erie’s six city high schools. To date, 44 students have benefited from this Scholarship Fund.

After graduating from Gannon, Mr. Morosky earned his MBA with honors in 1964 from the University of Cincinnati and then began work as a CPA and consultant specializing in the retail industry for the Arthur Andersen Company.  In 1972, Mr. Morosky left Arthur Andersen to accept the position of Vice-Chairman of The Limited Clothing store in Columbus, Ohio.  From 1972-1987, Mr. Morosky built The Limited from 8 to 4,000 stores with more than $4 billion in sales.  Mr. Morosky retired from The Limited in 1987, and shortly thereafter, became the Chairman of Allied/Federated Department Stores in New York City, the world’s largest department store chain. Mr. Morosky successfully merged Bloomingdales, Jordan Marsh, Bon Marché, Lazarus, Burdines and other stores under Allied/Federated leadership. Mr. Morosky then left Allied/Federated and returned to Columbus to form his own private investment company.

 Over the past 25 years, Mr. Morosky has provided consulting expertise for more than 50 diocesan foundations across the United States.  Additionally, he and his wife incorporated the National Society of Catholic Foundations and served on the Board of the National Catholic Stewardship Council.  Mr. and Mrs. Morosky have been active leaders in the Catholic Dioceses of Columbus, Ohio, and Miami, Florida. Mr. Morosky is the Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Columbus Diocese Catholic Foundation and the Catholic Foundation of Miami.  For his numerous efforts, Mr. Morosky was granted a private audience with Pope John Paul II, and has been named a Knight of St. Gregory The Great, the Church’s highest honor for a lay person, and numerous other Knighthoods.

The University awarded the Archbishop Gannon Medal of Distinction in 2006 to Mr. Morosky, as well as an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1992, and a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1984. Mr. and Mrs. Morosky live in Columbus, Ohio and Key Largo, Florida.

Editor’s note: The Erie Times-News covered this story in a front-page article in its Thursday, Sept. 27 edition.

RECENT NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS

News of interest on and around campus...

• Fresh faces: 22 Gannon University freshmen are profiled on the university’s web site. You can read about these freshmen, and their unique, personal stories, by logging on to http://www.gannon.edu/admiss/undergrad/freshmen.asp. Please take a moment to learn more about our students.

• Special thanks to Gannon colleagues for their assistance with media interview requests. Dr. Garibaldi did an interview with George Miller of the Erie Times-News for an article on the announcement of a major gift by Robert Morosky (see above for more details).

• Gannon University’s Schuster Theatre will feature four one-act plays in repertoire. All shows will begin at 8 p.m. at the theatre. For more information on any of the performances, contact the Schuster Theatre box office at ext. 7494. The shows are:

  • Eugene Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano will be shown on Thursday, Oct. 4, and Saturday, Oct. 6.
  • Steve Martin’s WASP will be shown Saturday, Oct. 6.
  • Connor McPherson’s The Good Thief will be shown Friday, Oct. 5.
  • Michael Weller’s The Dopey Fairy Tale will be shown Thursday, Oct. 4, and Friday, Oct. 5.

• Crisis Communications update: The University has implemented new technology mechanisms in order to communicate more efficiently and effectively in the event that a crisis or emergency situation should occur on or near Gannon’s campus. Please go to the Gannon portal and register to receive emergency notification alerts and updates. You may choose to receive emergency alert text messages via your cellular phone, or you may choose to receive a voice mail message via your cellular or landline (home) phone. When you log onto the Gannon portal, you will find under GU Announcements, an Emergency Notification Setup channel with simple instructions. Please register to receive emergency notices as soon as possible. As a reminder, the University’s Crisis Communications Plan is available for your review at www.gannon.edu/pr under the faculty/staff resources link and at www.gannon.edu/crisis.

CAMPUS EVENTS

• Monday, October 1 – Retirement Celebration: For Sr. Joyce Lowrey. From 3-4:30 p.m. in the Old Main Boardroom.

• Tuesday, October 2 – Graduate and Professional School Fair: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Yehl Room. Attendees will be able to meet with officials from more than 60 schools/programs in fields like business, education, engineering, the health sciences, law, liberal arts, and the social sciences. Call ext. 7680 for info.

• Thursday, October 4 – Community Mass: 11 a.m. in the Mary, Seat of Wisdom Chapel.

• Saturday, October 13 – Scholarship Celebration: The 20th annual event will honor Dalhart Dobbs, Rev. Monsignor Walter Lohse (posthumously), and James Rutkowski, Sr. The Archbishop Gannon Medal of Distinction is annually presented to individuals who have been instrumental in promoting the cause of Catholic Higher Education.

• Friday-Sunday, October 19-21 – Alumni Homecoming Reunion Weekend: Landmark years to be celebrated include the classes of 1957, 1967, 1982, and 1997. Affinity groups also joining in on the celebration include African-American Alumni, Villa Maria Alumnae, Honors, SGA, Theatre/Communication Arts, Commuters/Non-Traditional, and Gannon Women of the ’60s.

• “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

Monday-Friday, October 1-5 – Seton Hall Board of Regents meeting and retreat.

PRAYER CONCERNS

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

• Gary J. Paul, father of Emily C. Paul, marketing major.

CURRENT BIRTHDAYS

Carolynn Masters. Edna Macereti. Ruth Gehly. Jeremy Cannell. Daniel Balko. Dennis Fletcher. Patricia Pollifrone. Bernadette Carrig. Theresa Vitolo. Renee Foradori. Ronald Prescott. Kenneth Warner. Earl Brieger. Eugene Dangelo. Terry Giles. Ann Zielinski. Bob Cline. Brian Yaple. David Miller. Joseph Makowski. Carolyn Galleher. Harvey Kanter. Greg Moski. Kathleen Lieb. Ram Sundaram. Mary Vagula. Robert Oliver. Connie Stahon. Judith Mochoskay. Curtis Waite. Susan Carnes. Matthew Wolford. Cindy Mancini. Adam Anderson. Suzanne Hawryliw. Sister Min-Shik Kim. Dana Kosko.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

Alumnus returns to campus: T. Nicholas Mitchell, a member of Gannon’s class of 1992, returned to his alma mater last week. During his visit, Mitchell toured the campus, met with administrators, and had lunch with faculty and students. Here, he is shown speaking to students in the Zurn Science Center. Mitchell is the business development manager at Phenomenex, a chemistry company in Torrance, Calif. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Gannon and also has an executive master’s in business administration from Pepperdine University.