Donations support career-focused learning fund; additional $625K raised in April for annual Days of Giving
05/06/2022
Media contacts: Emily Gowdey-Backus, 978-934-3369, Emily_GowdeyBackus@uml.edu and Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu
Supporters of UMass Lowell have donated $2 million to benefit the new Moloney Student Fellowship Fund, university leaders announced Thursday night during an event to honor the leadership of Chancellor Jacquie Moloney, ’75, ’92.
The fund, created by Moloney and her husband, Edward, earlier this year, will award stipends to UMass Lowell students so they are able to earn money while participating in internships with nonprofit organizations, campus programs, entrepreneurial ventures and other opportunities they might not otherwise be able to pursue for financial reasons.
“The Moloney Scholarship Fund is about ensuring UMass Lowell students can follow their passions and accept internships and hands-on learning experiences at nonprofits, startups and other organizations that may not be able to afford to pay students,” Moloney said. “I’m profoundly grateful for this incredible generosity to support such a signature piece of a UMass Lowell education.”
The $2 million in private donations is in addition to $625,000 the university raised in April from university leaders, faculty, staff, alumni and friends through UMass Lowell’s annual Days of Giving campaign. Those funds will also support student programs.
More than 500 people, including U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan and Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, turned out to the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell Thursday for a gala tribute to Moloney as she prepares to preside over her final series of Commencement events next weekend before stepping down as UMass Lowell chancellor in June.
Appointed by the UMass Board of Trustees in 2015, Moloney is the first woman to lead the university since its founding in 1894. As chief administrator, she manages a $500 million budget, oversees the activities of nearly 2,000 employees and welcomes some 18,000 students to campus each year.
In 2017, Moloney was recognized as one of seven prominent “Women Who Mean Business” by the Boston Business Journal. Since that year, UMass Lowell has been consistently ranked in the top 15 of the Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts by the Boston Globe Magazine and the Commonwealth Institute.
In her 38 years with UMass Lowell, Moloney has served in a number of roles, including professor, researcher, dean and executive vice chancellor. A pioneer in web-based learning and entrepreneurial education, as chancellor, Moloney shepherded UMass Lowell’s record gains in student enrollment, academic preparedness, diversity, and graduation and retention rates. In addition, faculty hiring, research expenditures, fundraising and economic development activities have all reached new heights.
A first-generation college student, she is a two-time UMass Lowell graduate, having received a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a doctorate in education.
Moloney will lead UMass Lowell’s Commencement next weekend – Friday, May 13 and Saturday, May 14 – when the university will confer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees to an estimated 4,600 members of the Class of 2022 at UMass Lowell’s Tsongas Center.
Delivering keynote remarks to the graduates Saturday morning will be Dr. Ashish Jha, a public health expert currently coordinating COVID-19 response nationally. Sian Proctor, the first Black female commercial astronaut will speak to graduates at the Saturday afternoon ceremony and Christopher Niezrecki, UMass Lowell professor of mechanical engineering, will address graduates during Friday’s exercises.
UMass Lowell is a national research university located on a high-energy campus in the heart of a global community. The university offers its students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs, vigorous hands-on learning and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe. www.uml.edu