Messenger - Vol. 2, No. 2, Page 9
Winter 1993
Frank E. Acierno: Executive becomes a True Blue Hen

     When Delaware business executive Frank E. Acierno of Greenville made a
$1 million donation to the fund-raising campaign for the Bob Carpenter
Sports/Convocation Center, he says he didn't think about what he might get
back.
     Being a special part of the Carpenter Center, Acierno says, "is a nice
feeling. It has to do with educating the kids and it has to do with
improving the quality of life at the University. It's a great building. I'm
excited about being involved and about getting more involved. If they want
me, they have me."
     As the owner of Park Place and Towne Court apartments in Newark,
Acierno has worked with the University's housing office for nearly 30
years. "We house about 3,000 faculty and students in our apartment
complexes every year, so I've always been a factor at the University,"
Acierno says. "But, of course, since I made money from that, some people
say it doesn't count.
     "Maybe my contribution now is a way of repaying the University for
that success. I've been very fortunate."
     Although he has long been a supporter of the University's athletic
programs, this is the first time he's gotten involved in such a big way. In
recognition of his gift to the Carpenter Center campaign-the largest from a
single individual support, the arena in the facility has been named in his
honor.
     "To tell you the truth, I was dead set against that at first," he
says. "I called a family powwow, and I told my three kids I thought it
would be a little much, but they said, 'Go for it!' So, eventually, I said,
'Fine. Put the name on the floor.' "
     In that arena recently, before a men's basketball game, the
University's Alumni Association made Acierno a member of the Order of the
True Blue Hen to show its appreciation for his generosity.
     Acierno, a native of Manhasset, Long Island, was only 20 when he
graduated from the University of Virginia and, with a background in
chemistry and chemical engineering, he was hired by the Du Pont Co., a
profession he pursued until he eventually moved into real estate
development.
     Acierno and his late wife, Carolyn Marta, have three children-a
daughter, Cathleen Acierno Willauer of Rockland, Maine, and two sons, Frank
and Michael, of Wilmington, Del.
     Involved in real estate development and other financial ventures,
Acierno says he has never taken the time to develop hobbies, though he
attends many basketball games and other events held in the Acierno Arena of
the Bob Carpenter Center.
     "I buy a set of golf clubs every couple of years but I always end up
giving them away. I never have time to play," he says. "This is an exciting
time for me," he adds. "It's a different dimension. I'm beginning to
channel more and more energy away from the business world and into
philanthropy."