Administration

Maguire Foundation partners with Penn State, creates $1.25 million scholarship

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State has announced a new partnership with a nonprofit organization committed to keeping exceptional education within reach for young people from every background. The Maguire Foundation, based in West Conshohocken, Pa., and founded by Mr. and Mrs. James J. Maguire in 2000, offers assistance to students from the fifth grade through college who need financial support to attend one of the foundation’s partner schools. As the newest destination for Maguire Scholars, Penn State has received a commitment of $1.25 million to endow the Maguire Foundation Trustee Scholarship.

“The students chosen as Maguire Scholars have demonstrated the kind of talent and ambition that will make them invaluable members of the Penn State community,” said W. Terrell Jones, the University’s vice provost for educational equity. “We are deeply grateful to the Maguire Foundation for helping these extraordinary undergraduates to choose our institution, where we will provide the opportunities and the support to ensure their success.”

Each year, scholarships created through gifts from the Maguire Foundation help more than 750 students to enroll at private elementary and secondary schools across the commonwealth. As the Maguire Scholars reach the college level, they can now continue to receive support as Penn State students through the Maguire Foundation Trustee Scholarship and additional forms of University aid.

“Our family and our foundation have always been committed to investing time, talent and treasure in the success of others,” said James J. Maguire, the founder and chairman emeritus of insurance industry leader Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. “Through our new partnership with Penn State, we will be helping students to discover their full potential for service and achievement.”

James J. Maguire, a Korean War veteran, is a 1958 graduate of St. Joseph’s University. His alma mater has awarded him its highest honor, the Shield of Loyola, and it recently named its new campus in Merion, Pa., The James J. Maguire ’58 Campus. He also holds honorary degrees from Gwynedd-Mercy University and Chestnut Hill College. Maguire is a past member of the board of directors and executive committee for The Pennsylvania Insurance Federation, and he is the author of the autobiography “Just Show Up Every Day.”

The Maguire Foundation Trustee Scholarship will leverage University funds through the Trustee Matching Scholarship Program, which maximizes the impact of private giving while directing funds to students as quickly as possible, meeting the urgent need for scholarship support. For Trustee Scholarships created through the end of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students on June 30, 2014, Penn State will provide an annual 10 percent match of the total pledge or gift. The University match, which is approximately double the endowment’s annual spendable income, continues in perpetuity, multiplying the support available for students with financial need.

The foundation’s commitment will also help the University to achieve the goals of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students. The campaign is directed toward a shared vision of Penn State as the most comprehensive, student-centered research university in America. The University is engaging Penn State’s alumni and friends as partners in achieving six key objectives: ensuring student access and opportunity, enhancing honors education, enriching the student experience, building faculty strength and capacity, fostering discovery and creativity, and sustaining the University’s tradition of quality. The campaign’s top priority is keeping a Penn State degree affordable for students and families. The For the Future campaign is the most ambitious effort of its kind in Penn State’s history, with the goal of securing $2 billion by June 30, 2014.

Last Updated February 3, 2014

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