Alumni contribute to Schwab Hall renovation project

Janiece Morton, Reporter

Two Saint Francis alumni donated $500,000 for the “Schwab Hall Restoration Project” in August.

John and Shelia (Widmer) Connors’ half-million dollar gift is in honor of Albert Zanzuccki, Ph.D.  Zanzuccki is a professor emeritus of accounting at SFU and a popular and longtime figure at the University.

“Personally, Dr. Zanzuccki was a mentor and father figure to me,” said John Connors. “Many of my accomplishments in business can be traced back to his standard of excellence and confidence in me.”

The Connors, who live in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, have made previous contributions to SFU in honor of Zanzuccki. In addition to their gift toward the Schwab Hall renovations, they are also responsible for helping form the Dr. Albert A. Zanzuccki Endowed Chair in Business Administration.

The Schwab Hall renovations are part of the University’s “Capital Campaign: Called to Serve… Fulfilling the Promise.”  Part of this campaign is to give each of SFU’s schools their own “home.”  Schwab Hall will serve as home to the School of Business; the Science Center as home to the School of Sciences; Scotus will house the School of Arts and Letters; and Sullivan will be the base for the School of Health Sciences.

“We have fundraised about $5.2 million for the renovations to Schwab Hall,” said Bob Crusciel, SFU Vice President for Advancement.  “Six million is needed for this project.”

SFU Vice President for Finance Jeff Savino said that the project is moving forward.

“We plan to bring back to campus the firm that did the designs for the building three years ago,” said Savino. “That meeting is scheduled to happen in about a month.”