Supporting Business Students|Amgen Donates $1 million for Biotech Labs, Programs|Building Support for Nursing Students, Faculty|Making A Difference in the World and at Home|
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“Without the help I received at URI, I would not be where I am today,” |
Supporting Business Students
When Cynthia Marcille needed help as a student in the College of Business Administration, she received both financial assistance from the University and support from encouraging professors and academic advisors.
Since earning her degree, Cynthia Marcille Deysher ’78 has been regularly turning the tables on her alma mater. The latest example is a five-year, $250,000 pledge to fund the Cynthia and Bryon Deysher Business Scholarship Fund.
“Without the help I received at URI, I would not be where I am today,” commented the head of Deysher Advisory Services, an investment and consulting firm.
The endowed fund will provide an annual scholarship for students enrolled in the College of Business Administration who demonstrate financial need. Recipients will be eligible for scholarship renewal, provided they maintain good academic standing and continue to qualify for financial aid.
“Cynthia has been an active member of the College of Business Administration Advisory Board and a long-time supporter of the college,” said Mark Higgins, dean of the College of Business Administration. “Cynthia and Bryon’s generous gift will truly make a difference in furthering the educational mission of the college and will allow it to continue to attract the best students. We are very grateful for Cynthia’s unwavering commitment.”
It’s not the first time that Deysher, a member of the college’s Hall of Fame, has come to the aid of her University. She and her siblings established a memorial scholarship in 2000 to honor their late father, Robert Marcille ’49.
Deysher, a former top executive at technology firms—including ArrowPoint, Shiva, and Bytex—also made a leadership gift to support the private fund drive to transform the business college’s home, Ballentine Hall.
The Concord, Mass., resident said supporting education is a core value for her and Bryon, the president and CEO of Methods Machine Tools, Inc., a supplier of precision machine tools for more than 48 years. “We both believe in public higher education, and we want to support young people as they pursue their education,” Deysher said.
A member of the Making a Difference Campaign Leadership Committee, Deysher said URI is moving ahead on many fronts. “Once you get people talking about their positive URI experiences, they are really excited about giving back.”
“Working with Cynthia as a donor and a volunteer has been an absolute pleasure,” said Michaela Mooney, director of major gifts. “She understands how important it is for alumni to be engaged with the University and to participate in its continuing growth.”
- By Dave Lavallee ’79, M.P.A. ’87
For more information about giving to URI’s College of Business Administration, please contact:URI DevelopmentAlumni Center73 Upper College RoadKingston, RI 02881Phone: 401-874-2145Email: campaign@uri.edu
For more information about giving to URI, visit us atadvance.uri.edu/giving
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“These laboratory suites are absolutely necessary for the next generation of scientists to learn the latest techniques and processes that will result in improved quality of life for millions of people.” |
Amgen Donates $1 million for Biotech Labs, Programs
At the groundbreaking ceremonies for the Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences last March, Amgen, the leading biotechnology employer in Rhode Island, committed $1 million to the Making a Difference campaign to support construction of state-of-the-art laboratories and to endow academic programs in the center.
“Amgen has been a great partner and long-time supporter of our biotechnology initiatives, from donating equipment to our biomanufacturing lab at the Providence Campus to hosting interns and hiring our graduates,” said Jeff Seemann, dean of the College of the Environment and Life Sciences and the driving force behind the University’s biotechnology initiative. “This latest donation further demonstrates Amgen’s commitment to URI and Rhode Island, and we are deeply appreciative of this generosity.”
Kimball Hall, Amgen vice president and general manager of Rhode Island operations, said that the center will fill a vital educational need.
“Amgen is committed to enhancing science literacy and education in our community,” she said. “These laboratory suites are absolutely necessary for the next generation of scientists to learn the latest techniques and processes that will result in improved quality of life for millions of people. We are thrilled that URI is taking a lead in teaching the biological sciences, and we are excited to be a part of it.”
The center is being funded with both public and private monies: a $50 million state bond approved by voters in 2004 and $10 million in private donations being sought through the Making a Difference campaign.
Companies or individuals interested in giving opportunities for the biotechnology center should contact Catherine Sullivan, assistant dean of development for the College of the Environment and Life Sciences, at 401-874-2446 or cecs@uri.edu.
- By Todd McLeish
For more information about the Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences, please contact:
URI College of the Environment and Life SciencesWoodward HallKingston, RI 02881Phone: 401-874-2957Email: jseemann@uri.edu
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“Please join us in supporting URI’s College of Nursing. We are challenging nursing alumni to make a difference by giving generously to help URI educate future nurses. Our challenge grant doubles your gift—providing twice as much support to nursing scholarships and programs. Your support is critical. Let’s make a difference by working together.” |
Building Support for Nursing Students, Faculty
Whether it’s leading efforts to beautify the grounds of the College of Nursing or playing a critical role in the development of a new nursing student center, Cynthia Sculco ’65, a Westerly, R.I. native, has always remained close to her alma mater.
Now the New York City resident and her husband, Tom, have made a major commitment to making the college even stronger.
The alumna and her husband have pledged $150,000 over five years to support student scholarships, faculty development, and dean’s initiatives. Through the pledge, the Sculcos will match other gifts ranging from $2,500 to $12,500. The gift is part of the University’s Making a Difference campaign.
“Cynthia wanted to help us build our endowment,” said Nursing Dean Dayle Joseph. “So, a gift of $12,500 for a student scholarship will actually become a fully endowed $25,000 fund. It is Cynthia’s intent that individual donors would establish and name the endowments in honor of family members and friends.”
A portion of the Sculcos’ donation will be earmarked for the Dean’s Academic Enterprise Fund.
“This gift is important because it gives us prominence in the capital campaign, as well as among our alumni and friends,” Joseph said. “We are really trying to create a legacy for the college, and these endowments will help do that. I have already spoken to people who want to make gifts because of Cynthia’s matching challenge.”
Sculco said it was the great foundation she had at URI that allowed her to earn her master’s degree and doctorate from Columbia University Teachers College.
“The URI nursing program was really the building block, and it continues to be an outstanding program,” she said. “I was fortunate to go to URI and to be awarded scholarships during a period when it was certainly much less expensive,” said one of the first four recipients of the University’s Distinguished Achievement Awards, which were initiated in 2006.
Joseph worked closely with Michaela Mooney, director of major gifts, who helped put the proposal together. She also credits Tom and Cathy Ryan for inspiring her to seek a gift with a challenge element. Ryan, who is chair of the campaign committee, and Cathy made a major gift to the College of Pharmacy, part of which was a $500,000 challenge gift to encourage additional donations.
Sculco possesses impressive nursing and teaching credentials, including experience at Presbyterian Hospital, New York University, and Hunter College, where she coordinated the graduate medical-surgical nursing program. She is president of the Nurses Educational Fund, a national organization that provides scholarships for nurses in graduate programs. Such assistance is vital in the effort to address the national shortage of nursing faculty.
About 10 years ago, Sculco established a research endowment that provides seed money to URI nursing faculty. She made a leadership gift to the new White Hall Nursing Commons, which provides students with comfortable and efficient meeting and study space. She serves on the Dean’s Advisory Committee, served as the honorary chair of the Hart Garden Campaign, and was co-chair of the College’s 60th anniversary gala in 2005.
- By Dave Lavallee ’79, M.P.A. ’87
For more information about the Cynthia and Tom Sculco Challenge Grant, please contact:
URI DevelopmentAlumni Center73 Upper College Rd.Kingston, RI 02881Phone: 401-874-4716Email: michaela@uri.edu
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“The United States is supremely positioned to lead by example and establish peace with justice and the rule of law and with respect for human dignity, both globally and domestically. It is our hope that our gift will encourage faculty members and students to pursue this endeavor.”--Tom Silvia ’83 and Shannon Chandley ’83 |
Making A Difference in the World and at Home
Tom Silvia ’83 and Shannon Chandley ’83 are generous alumni by thought, word, and deeds. Their latest $500,000 pledge to the Making a Difference campaign reflects their concerns and interests.
The couple has designated $300,000 of their gift to a Silvia/Chandley Professorship in Peace Studies to support a faculty member committed to research or teaching related to peace.
“We give this gift not because we have a Pollyanna view of the world, but because we recognize the horror of a world at war,” says Chandley, who majored in English and history at URI. “Peace is the absence of aggression and must be the goal of all nations.
“Despite our current administration’s transgressions, the United States is supremely positioned to lead by example and establish peace with justice and the rule of law and with respect for human dignity, both globally and domestically. It is our hope that our gift will encourage faculty members and students to pursue this endeavor.”
The Jim and Cathy Chandley Hockey Scholarship, established with $60,000 of their pledge, honors the memory of Chandley’s parents. “Their first several dates were at Rhode Island Reds hockey games. My father, a Providence fireman, was a passionate fan,” says Chandley, noting that her husband and all four of their children play hockey. “We love the game at every level, but the fighting in the NHL continues to be problematic.”
Her mother, Catherine Chandley, worked in school cafeterias in Rhode Island before becoming supervisor of food services for the state. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University’s Feinstein Providence campus in 1999. “They were generous and special people with incredible integrity,” their daughter says.
The New Hampshire couple pledged $80,000 of their gift to the Honors Colloquium Endowment: “It’s first rate. We try to attend some of the events each year. It’s something that URI does that sets it apart; it’s a signature event,” says Chandley.
Silvia and Chandley also pledged $10,000 of their gift to the Sebastian and Marybelle Musco Opera Workshop Endowment challenge. “Both of us appreciate the arts,” says Silvia, who is a member of the Making a Difference Campaign Steering Committee and the URI Foundation’s Board of Trustees.
Chandley is the chair of the Dean’s Council for the College of Arts and Sciences. She and Silvia have earmarked the remaining $50,000 of their gift in response to the $50,000 College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Excellence Fund challenge, established last year by John Struck ’74.
- By Jan Wenzel ’87
For more information about giving to URI, please contact:
URI DevelopmentAlumni Center73 Upper College RoadKingston, RI 02881Phone: 401-874-2145Email: campaign@uri.edu
For more information about giving to URI, visit us atadvance.uri.edu/giving
