Messenger - Vol. 2, No. 1, Page 21 Fall 1992 Puglisi named MBNA America Business Professor For Donald J. Puglisi, June 25 was a beautiful day. The sun was shining through cloudless skies in Newark, Del., and a group of about 50 of his friends and colleagues stood around him. A long-held dream was finally coming true for the University professor of finance. In the courtyard of MBNA America's corporate headquarters, just a few miles from campus, Puglisi was being recognized for excellence in teaching, receiving the title of MBNA America Business Professor. He took advantage of the attention to honor his late father, John F. Puglisi. "A generous gift from MBNA America to the University's College of Business and Economics, and my selection as the first MBNA America Business Professor, have enabled me to do something that I've been wanting to do for many years," Puglisi said. "I have given the stipend that comes with this professorship to the University, so that a scholarship can be established in my father's name." Puglisi said the scholarship will be awarded to a senior in the College of Business and Economics who has a strong record of academic achievement, service to others and active involvement in recreational or intercollegiate athletics. Funded in part by the professorship's stipend, and by Puglisi's own money, the first scholarship of $5,000 will be given this fall. Kenneth Biederman, dean of the College of Business and Economics, opened the ceremony, calling Puglisi "one of the University's finest faculty members." Biederman also praised MBNA America, which is a leading national issuer of bank credit cards. "MBNA America has given continual support to the University of Delaware," he said. "Not only is this a quality corporation, it is a quality citizen of the state of Delaware." In January, MBNA America pledged $525,000 to the University: $200,000 to create the MBNA America Business Professorship and $325,000 in support of the Bob Carpenter Center, a new multipurpose facility opening this fall. Since moving to Delaware in 1982, the company has given nearly $1 million to the University. Puglisi said MBNA America is a "model of excellence" in innovation, corporate structure and technology. He said he looks forward to strengthening the ties between the University and the corporation. Puglisi will be the MBNA America Business Professor for at least three years. A graduate of Michigan State University and Indiana University, he was selected for the professorship by the dean of the College of Business and Economics and the University provost. A 21-year member of Delaware's faculty, Puglisi won an excellence-in-teaching award from the University in 1980. Later that year, he worked as a visiting research scholar at the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, where he investigated methods of improving the profitability of savings and loan associations. For his efforts, the bank board gave him its Outstanding Service Award. Since 1973, Puglisi has been a member of the boards of directors and an officer of many Delaware holding companies and corporations, which he serves as an investment manager and accountant. His company, Puglisi & Associates, which employs two Delaware graduates and one student, also prepares expert financial testimony for the courts. -Stephen Steenkamer, Delaware '92