For decades, Edward M. Skovira, M.D. ’53, invested in the students living and learning at The University of Scranton. As a member of the President’s Circle, a giving society that recognizes leadership donations, he gave generously to various University causes. During his time as a University Trustee, he helped shape Scranton into the place it is today; he also found the time to establish memberships in the President’s Business Council and University Council, and he participated in many of his various Reunion activities.
In 1998, Ed was awarded the Frank J. O’Hara Distinguished Alumni Award in Medicine, the highest honor bestowed jointly by the University and The Alumni Society on graduates who exemplify outstanding character and who achieve distinction in their profession while embodying Scranton’s Catholic and Jesuit values.
After Ed’s passing in 2009, his estate bequeathed a $3 million endowment gift to The University of Scranton that provides scholarships to bright and promising students from Northeastern Pennsylvania majoring in the health sciences. Thanks to Ed's generosity, a new generation of students will study the same Catholic and Jesuit values he embraced throughout his life. In addition, he left the University a rare collection of leather-bound medical texts from the Classics of Medicine, which is available for viewing in the Helen Gallagher-McHugh Special Collections in our Weinberg Memorial Library, and a unique and rare microscope collection permanently displayed in the Loyola Science Center that our biology professors use each semester to show and explain the advances in microscopes over the decades.
“These extraordinary gifts are Dr. Skovira’s most public affirmation that he truly lived the Jesuit tenets he learned as a student at The University of Scranton,” says Debra Pellegrino Ed.D., Academic Dean of the Panuska College, where the Skovira Scholars receive exemplary preparation for their health science profession of choice while embracing the Ignatian humanities. “The Skovira Legacy will enrich generations of Scranton students, shaping their lives as men and women for and with others, and providing them with the Jesuit values Ed discovered and was strengthened by in his service to others.”
To honor Ed’s extraordinary generosity and commitment to his alma mater, The Edward M. Skovira Laboratory in the state-of-the-art Loyola Science Center was dedicated in his memory.
Every gift makes a difference at The University of Scranton. Contact Carol Maculloch, MBA, CFRE at 570-941-7799 or plannedgiving@scranton.edu to discuss how you can shape our students' futures with a gift in your estate plan.