Meet Our Donors
We thank all our planned-gift donors for their generous support. Here are some of their stories.
Shaun O’Malley (left) and Joseph Pankratz
Shaun F. O’Malley, W’59
Shaun O’Malley comes from a large
family of three brothers and four sisters.
To attend Wharton in the 1950s,
he knew he would need financial help. After
one semester at Penn, the cost of his
education became a real challenge, so he
entered the military draft and served two
years in the U.S. Army. The benefits he
received from the G.I. Bill enabled him to
come back to Wharton for his undergraduate
degree. After graduating in 1959, Shaun
embarked on a long and successful career in
the accounting profession.
When the School approached him about a gift, Shaun knew that he wanted to help students with financial need attend Wharton by creating an endowed scholarship fund. The question was how best to fund such a gift. Shaun wanted to make an outright gift to get the scholarship fund started, but he also wanted some income for his retirement. The solution was to combine an outright contribution with a life income gift. To create the O’Malley Scholarship Fund immediately, Shaun made an outright gift by giving Penn a life insurance policy he no longer needed and which the University surrendered for its cash value. He then used appreciated stock to fund a charitable gift annuity, thereby avoiding capital gain taxation and securing quarterly income for life. At his death, Penn will add the principal remaining in the gift annuity to the O’Malley Scholarship Fund. Shaun also makes annual gifts to his Scholarship Fund.
Today, the O’Malley Scholarship Fund is helping future business leaders study at Wharton. The inaugural O’Malley Scholar was Joseph Pankratz, a Wharton student from Missouri who played tight end on Penn’s undefeated, Ivy League Champion football team. “I know well how critical financial aid can be to a student,” said Shaun, “and it was a thrill for me to make it possible for someone like Joe to come to Wharton and Penn.”
Using Gifts of Life Insurance & a Charitable Gift Annuity
Nancy
M. Crabbe, WG’88
Nancy Crabbe grew up in St.Louis but has lived most of her life in northern
New Jersey. She married soon after high school and postponed college while
raising three children. As time and family allowed, she took college courses
at a number of institutions and earned her degree from Thomas Edison State
College.
In 1978, she joined the First National Bank of Toms River, New Jersey as a teller and discovered that she loved accounting. After taking courses in accounting, she passed the CPA exam on her first try. Her talent and hardwork led in time to becoming a senior vice president and controller of the bank.
As her career blossomed, Nancy desired an excellent business education and came to the Executive MBA Program at Wharton which she describes as “the highlight of my business life. It validated my abilities as a businesswoman.” She received her degree in 1988. Her Wharton training later helped her develop a business plan to start a new bank in Toms River. The Shore Community Bank opened in 1997 with Nancy as its Treasurer.
Now retired, Nancy devotes her time to eleven grandchildren, traveling, gardening and occasional sailing races in M-scows, E-scows and sneak boxes. As part of her retirement planning, Nancy wanted to increase her annual income while also helping Wharton. She chose a charitable gift annuity which she funded with appreciated stock. This resulted in a guaranteed annual income for life and a deduction from current income taxes, helped her avoid capital gains and estate tax—and gave her the satisfaction of making a generous gift to Wharton. “I am so grateful for my Wharton education,” said Nancy. “It made a huge difference in my life.”
Using a Charitable Gift Annuity
Janet
M. Lavine, WG’79 and D. Richard Williams, W’78, WG’79
Janet Lavine
and Rick Williams credit Wharton for many things that have helped them
succeed in business and in life—especially for bringing them together.
Janet (WG’79) and Rick (W’78, WG’79) met at Wharton
and married soon after graduation. After several years working for companies
in the New York area, the couple moved to Atlanta where Janet served
as treasurer of a leading media conglomerate and where today Rick is
senior executive of a major insurance and asset management firm.
Parents of two children, Janet and Rick wanted to find a way to plan for their eventual retirement years, provide income to family members and help charity. They found a solution in the form of a charitable remainder unitrust. Income from a unitrust is paid to named beneficiaries for their lifetimes. In addition to a current income tax deduction for Janet and Rick, the charitable remainder unitrust also allows them to shelter assets from estate taxes. When the trust terminates many years from now, charities important to the couple will benefit, including the Wharton School.
The decision to include Wharton in their estate plan was easy. For Janet, “Wharton taught me how to acquire business savvy and gave me a wonderful network of fellow alumni.” For Rick, “the School instilled in me the self-confidence and critical thinking process necessary to be successful. We are delighted to give back to Wharton because it gave so much to us.”
Using a Charitable Remainder Unitrust
Kenneth
R. Middleton, WG’67
Ken Middleton came to Wharton in the fall of 1965 after
active duty in the US Coast Guard and after working in the insurance industry.
Upon his graduation from the MBA Program in 1967, Ken joined the Treasurer’s
Department of Exxon Corporation and traveled the world. In the back of his
mind, though, was a yearning to own his own business. In 1980, he purchased
a small storage company on the east coast of Florida and, four years later,
he left Exxon to pursue his dream full-time. In the years that followed, Ken
expanded the company and never looked back. Today, his business is thriving.
Ken continues to oversee its operations, but he and Emmy also find time for
travel, fishing and scuba diving.
Throughout his career, Ken has been grateful for the education he received at Wharton and the business success that his training helped him achieve. When it came time to plan his estate, he was determined to help future generations of Wharton students achieve their goals by establishing an endowed fellowship fund. To do so, Ken took the creative approach of placing his business in a trust that will benefit the School. At his death, ownership of the business will pass to the University of Pennsylvania. The University will then sell the business, and the proceeds will be used to create a fellowship in Ken’s name at Wharton.
Ken is enthusiastic about helping Wharton students become the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs. “I would not have been successful without the education Wharton gave me,” Ken asserts. “Wharton gave me a chance by admitting me and by giving me financial aid. I am delighted to help give future students the same opportunity.”
Using a Charitable Remainder Unitrust
John
H. Shaw III, WG’69
As he neared the completion
of his undergraduate
engineering degree, John
H. Shaw III decided to apply to
Wharton’s MBA program to prepare
for a career in business. He
was worried, though, that a lack
of funds would prevent him from
attending. “I was ecstatic to
learn that not only was I admitted,
but that Wharton would
also offer me a generous fellowship
and loan package.”
After graduating in 1969, John joined Exxon and embarked on a career in financial and operational controls that included assignments on six continents and some twenty years living overseas, mostly in Asia. He met his wife of thirty years, Joanna, in Malaysia. Now retired, John and Joanna lead active lives in Houston and especially enjoy fast-paced games of tennis.
The Shaws are great believers in the power of education and have financed the college educations of two nieces and a nephew at universities in the U.S. and New Zealand. Their generosity will also extend to Wharton through a substantial bequest that will one day create the John Hill Shaw III Endowed Fellowship Fund. “Wharton provided me with the financial aid necessary to attend,” John said. “I was helped when I was young, and I want to reciprocate by helping future students. This is the best way I know to thank Wharton for giving me such a fine education and a good life.”
Game, set and match for John and Joanna and for Wharton.
Philip
J. Whitcome, WG’76
The late Philip J. Whitcome, a member of the Wharton Graduate Class of 1976, has bequeathed $3.8 million to the School to provide endowed financial aid for MBA students. The gift is one of the largest estate gifts for fellowship in Wharton’s history.
Dr. Whitcome was a molecular biologist who spent his career in the biotechnology industry. In addition to his Wharton MBA, he held an undergraduate degree from Providence College in Rhode Island and his doctorate from the University of California at Los Angeles. Early in his career, he held a variety of research and marketing management positions in the diagnostics division of Abbott Laboratories, and later served as manager of corporate development for medical products at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.
He joined the biotechnology firm, Amgen, in 1981 where his roles included director of strategic planning. In 1988, he joined Neurogen Corporation where he served as president and chief executive officer until 1994. Most recently, he was a director and chairman of the board of Avigen, a firm based in San Francisco which develops gene-based therapeutic products for the treatment of inherited and acquired diseases. He passed away in December 2005.
“This generous gift will make it possible for generations of students to attend Wharton and prepare for business careers in bio-technology and many other fields,” said Wharton Dean Patrick T. Harker. “I am confident that the Whitcome Fellows supported through this bequest will follow in Dr. Whitcome’s footsteps as the business leaders of tomorrow.”