All-around excellence

When Donald Puglisi became a named professor in 1992, he says he had no doubt what he wanted to do with the stipend he received.

“It was one of my dreams come true, to honor my father’s memory by establishing a scholarship in his name,” he says.

From that year on, the John F. Puglisi Scholarship has been awarded annually to an outstanding senior in the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, selected on the basis of academics, athletics and community service. Donald Puglisi, who retired in 2002 and now is MBNA America Professor Emeritus of Business, says he used the example of his father’s life to determine the criteria for the scholarship.

“My father strongly believed in education. His parents came from Italy and did not speak English, but he and his sisters went to college, where he studied chemistry. He became a teacher and later worked in industry,” Puglisi says.

“My father also had an interest in athletics—he was a very good fencer, coached basketball and baseball and was an ardent Yankees fan. He also believed in giving back to the community through his church and in other ways.”

With additional donations, the endowment for the Puglisi Scholarship has increased to the point that, this year, the amount doubled from $5,000 to $10,000.

The 2004 recipient of the scholarship is Sara P. Sievers, BE ’05, who says she has combined a marketing major with a minor in management information systems in order to develop both people-oriented and technology-oriented skills. “I think that a background in both will put me in a good position for a number of different types of jobs,” she says.

Sievers calls her selection as the 2004 Puglisi Scholar “both a surprise and an honor.” She says she and her family especially appreciate the financial assistance because her father is deceased and her younger sister now also is in college.

Sievers, who has worked at a Toyota dealership near her home in Princeton, N.J., and last summer had an internship at Toyota headquarters in California, says she loves the automotive industry but has applied for jobs in several different companies. She’s been on the dean’s list every semester since her freshman year, is active in Alpha Lambda Delta and other honor societies, volunteers at the Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home and was a member of the UD track team until benched by a leg injury.

Sievers is not alone in expressing appreciation for the Puglisi Scholarship program.

“Having the scholarship helped me a lot. It meant no more student loans my senior year and more time to concentrate on my studies and to become more involved with the track team as a runner,” Rachel Schultz, BE ’04, says. “And, it showed. My senior year, I received all A’s except for one A-minus.”

After graduating with a major in business administration focusing on marketing and operations, Schultz began working for the U.S. Department of Defense as a contracting specialist. “The business skills and what I learned at UD have been helpful, especially as I am now beginning to work on major jobs,” she says.

Matthew Yancisin, BE ’93, has the distinction of being the first Puglisi Scholar. An accounting and finance major, he also was one of Puglisi’s students and recalls that the professor brought a broad view of the real world as well as academics into the classroom.

“My education at Delaware was fantastic,” Yancisin says. “It was broad and deep and positioned me well. Receiving the scholarship was exciting for me and my parents, and the endorsement meant a lot to me.”

Yancisin now works for 4GL School Solutions, which provides comprehensive, special-education management solutions to school districts nationwide.

For Chris Gorzynski, BE ’02, the scholarship “acknowledged not just academic performance, but the whole person outside the classroom as well.”

“It felt great to get the scholarship and to meet Dr. Puglisi, and I really appreciate having been selected,” he says. “I still have the plaque on display.”

The owner of an emergency dispatch systems business, Generation Consultants, Gorzynski was a volunteer firefighter while a UD student and continues that service today.

Another Puglisi Scholar, Nina Satori Ricevuto, BE ’95, is on the senior executive team, working in the quality and regulating department of Siemens Medical Solutions: Health Services Corp., which produces software for billing and clinical systems for more than 1,000 hospitals.

“Operations management courses at UD were especially useful, and I am still using what I learned at Delaware,” she says. “In general, my classes were above and beyond good.”

In addition to the honor of being selected, she says, the scholarship “helped me finish paying for college and gave me some more time my last year. It also was a plus to have the scholarship on my résumé.”

Puglisi says the scholarship “has been a gratifying experience” for himself, as well as for the recipients.

“I have been pleased with the caliber and variety of students who have received the scholarship—men and women, students from Delaware and out of state, different majors within the College of Business and Economics, participants in varsity and intramural athletics,” he says. “I get a big kick out of meeting them and their families when the scholarship is presented at Homecoming, and I continue to hear from many of them.”

Puglisi, who was a member of the UD faculty from 1971 until his retirement, is managing director of Puglisi & Associates, a financial consulting firm. Among his honors, he has received the University of Delaware Medal of Distinction and the UD Excellence in Teaching Award.

—Sue Moncure