Debra Toppeta

Debra Toppeta is a leader in her field and a committed champion of Fordham. She began her varied career in financial services, then spent eight years as an attorney at a prominent firm working on mergers and acquisitions. She is the founder and publisher of Woman Around Town, a website that helps women get the most out of living in New York City and Washington, D.C. The site has won numerous awards from the New York Press Club, which wisely appointed Debra to its board of governors in 2013. A music lover, she is also a member of the board of the American Classical Orchestra, a period instrument ensemble that performs at Alice Tully Hall.

Her husband, Bill, is a 1970 graduate of Fordham College at Rose Hill and a Fordham Trustee Fellow. Debra and Bill are both members of the Archbishop Hughes Society. They have three daughters, including Kristin, a 2013 graduate of Fordham Law School.

Together, Debra and Bill have been devoted supporters of education in New York City, particularly of LaGuardia Community College and Fordham University.

Bill serves on the LaGuardia board of trustees, and the couple helps sponsor activities for the school’s President’s Society students. Each year, the LaGuardia Community College Toppeta Scholarship supports one LaGuardia graduate who enrolls at Fordham.

Also at Fordham, the couple established both the Toppeta Family Chair in Global Financial Markets and the John and Rita Toppeta Endowed Scholarship Fund, which honors Bill’s parents—also Fordham alumni.

For their joint thoughtful, passionate leadership and cherished stewardship of Fordham, they were honored with the 2015 Fordham Founder’s Award.