President's Council

Making Magis a Living Ideal

President's Council members sharing guidance and exchanging ideas with students and young alumni at the Executive Leadership Series

Established in 2004, the Fordham University President’s Council is a group of successful professionals and philanthropists who are committed to mentoring Fordham’s future leaders, funding key initiatives, and raising the University’s profile.

Through leadership giving and deep engagement with the University’s students and young alumni, President’s Council members have a remarkable impact on the life and mission of the University.

By supporting the Fordham Founder’s Undergraduate Scholarship Fund, they renew and strengthen Fordham’s historic commitment to making a Jesuit education more affordable and accessible to students with world-changing potential, particularly first-generation college students and those from underrepresented groups.

Today, the fund is one of the largest financial aid funds at the University. It supports a diverse group of scholars, including those who are the first in their family to attend college.

Beyond philanthropic support, council members share their time and expertise with the Fordham community, opening doors in the corporate sector for University leadership and serving as a sounding board for the president. Their mentorship helps students and young alumni become principled leaders in their own careers. And it inspires them to pass on the gifts they receive, as mentors to the next generation of Fordham Rams.

I think of you as Fordham’s Knights of the Round Table: You bring your wisdom, your contribution, your expertise—so much—to Fordham and our students.

- Tania Tetlow, President

President's Council News

Strengthening Diversity: Fordham Scholarships Empower NYC Catholic School Graduates

Many donors are giving to the Trustee Diversity Fund and other scholarships for students from underrepresented groups to support greater on-campus diversity and inclusion, a central goal of the University’s $350 million fundraising campaign, Cura Personalis | For Every Fordham Student. But some scholarship donors are advancing this goal through their focus on students from [...]

Read The Full Story

For Gabelli School Donor, Scholarship Fund in Brother’s Memory Is One of Many Giving Priorities

As an adjunct professor at the Gabelli School of Business and chair of its advisory board, Robert Gach, GABELLI ’80, invests a good amount of time and energy in the school. But he invests financially as well—in part, because of the monetary challenges he faced as an undergraduate. He is the founder of two scholarships [...]

Read The Full Story

Pre-Law Students Hear from Deputy Mayor and Bloomberg Exec

Students in Fordham’s Pre-Law Symposium got a visit from two high-profile alumni who told them to look beyond “traditional” legal careers. In their Feb. 21 talk, Anne Williams-Isom, FCLC ’86, deputy NYC mayor for Health and Human Services, and Catherine Blaney, FCLC ’86, development lead at Bloomberg Philanthropies, encouraged students to consider opportunities in government, [...]

Read The Full Story

Finance Exec Offers Gabelli Graduate Students Insights on AI, Investment

Veteran financial executive Peter Zangari, Ph.D., FCRH ’89, has some advice for students pursuing graduate degrees in business analytics and information technology, and it may surprise you. You don’t need to dive headfirst into computer science and programming to succeed in those spaces, he told students in the Gabelli School of Business during a talk [...]

Read The Full Story

Don’t Be Afraid to Make That First Call: Fordham Alumni Provide Mentorship and Advice

Jason Caldwell, GABELLI ’10, ’17, GSAS ’11, said that one of his biggest pieces of advice to students entering the job market is not to be afraid to make that first call or send that email. When It’s Fordham Students, ‘I Always Answer’ “I get emails or LinkedIn requests from at least two Fordham students [...]

Read The Full Story

Fordham LGBTQ+ Student Wellness Fund Attracts Strong Support

In April, when Fordham hosted the Ignatian Q conference, attended by students from Fordham and 13 other Jesuit colleges and universities, it was a joyous occasion for the University’s LGBTQ+ community. With its focus on activism, spirituality, and justice, it “breathed life into the conversation around LGBT life on campus,” said one student organizer, Ben [...]

Read The Full Story

Ignatian Q Conference Advances LGBTQ Inclusion and Equality

It was an event that fostered connection and hope—and moved some student to tears. On the weekend of April 21 to 23, students from 14 Jesuit colleges and universities came to Fordham for Ignatian Q, a conference emphasizing community, spirituality, and ways of achieving full inclusion and belonging for LGBTQ+ students on their campuses. The [...]

Read The Full Story

Ancient and Fragile: The Rare Beauty of Southeast Asia’s Rainforests

Inspired by the memory of a Jesuit’s decades-old photo albums—and Pope Francis’ call to “care for our common home”—wildlife photographer and conservationist Michael Patrick Davidson spent a month amid the biodiverse, endangered forests of Southeast Asia. He returned with a commitment to share what he learned. Enter the lowland rainforests of Malaysian Borneo, and you [...]

Read The Full Story

‘I Had a World-Class Education’: Ahead of the Class of 1973’s Golden Jubilee, Mary Anne Sullivan Reflects on a Groundbreaking Era

Taking a walk down Fifth Avenue with her husband after Fordham’s annual Founder’s Dinner last month, Mary Anne Sullivan thought back to her days as a student at Thomas More College, when she’d taken so many similar walks, relishing the city as much as the Rose Hill campus. Now, as she helps plan this year’s [...]

Read The Full Story

Businesses Value Liberal Arts Majors, Alumni Tell Students

Despite recent talk about “the end of the English major” and declining interest in the humanities, studies have shown that the hallmarks of a liberal arts education—like breadth of knowledge and the ability to think critically and communicate clearly—translate to the qualities that employers value. “That richness of thought and perspectives really helps our work,” [...]

Read The Full Story

Marcella Barry Is Passionate About Helping Students Succeed

A New Jersey native, Marcella Barry, FCRH ’92, GSE ’96, knew she wanted to stay in the tri-state area for college, but it was Fordham’s strong Jesuit tradition, its New York City location, and its expansive network that really pulled her in. It’s a decision she’s never regretted making. To this day, she thanks the University for [...]

Read The Full Story