Frank and Pat Russo have been creating opportunities to help students succeed at Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) for several years — first endowing the Frank S. and Patricia F. Russo Scholarship in 2019 and then transforming the annual RVCC Giving Day with a “Match Challenge” for two consecutive years (at $50,000 each).
Recently, the couple’s incredible generosity expanded even further as they decided to propel their scholarship well into the future. Their gift is a $375,000 donation that will allow for five full scholarships to RVCC in each of the next 10 years. It is the largest scholarship commitment in the college’s history.
“The role and intrinsic value of community colleges is undeniable,” said Frank Russo. “Our support of several recent students of Raritan Valley Community College provides objective evidence of that. We hope our commitment to RVCC is a model for others to follow.”
One of those students, Lucas Winkler, was a recipient this past year of the scholarship. This fall, he will be transferring to the University of Buffalo to pursue a bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical science, a field in which he ultimately plans to pursue a Ph.D.
“I could not be more grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Russo — their generosity has been a difference-maker for me,” said Winkler.
The Russos enjoyed storied careers in the telecommunications industry, at AT&T, and then, for Patricia Russo, as CEO at Lucent Technologies. They were difference makers in the corporate world and have carried that forward into a range of philanthropic interests.
One beneficiary of their generosity is Raritan Valley Community College. When the Russos established the Frank S. and Patricia F. Russo Scholarship in 2019, it was the most generous scholarship offered at RVCC. The scholarship has been awarded to five students each year since its inception.
“I know what it means to struggle or lose focus or maybe not even have the motivation to excel at all. That describes the early part of my life’s journey,” said Frank Russo. “But I eventually learned the importance of perseverance and determination. And with help along the way, including attending a community college in upstate New York, I overcame these obstacles. There are few things as gratifying as now having the ability to ‘pay that forward’ at RVCC.”
When the Russos’ generosity also helped transform RVCC’s annual Giving Day fundraising event by offering the first-ever “Match Challenge,” that infusion was directly responsible for the unprecedented growth of Giving Day. Since then, Giving Day has become the most successful fundraising event of the year for the RVCC Foundation.
“New Jersey was an important part of our lives and livelihoods; we raised our family there and made our career marks there,” said Pat Russo, herself a graduate of Georgetown University.
