The PBC 14th Annual Award Dinner held last October at the Pierre Hotel in New York City had a student-centered focus, setting a new tone during the black-tie gala. The goal was to remind attendees of the importance of the work of the PBC and its ongoing impact on Scranton students.
Presidential Scholars Ralph Petagna Jr. and Krista Ziegler opened the evening with a light-hearted “day in the life at the University” video, which ended with the duo boarding a bus to New York and then strolling live through the ballroom, deep in conversation.
“They knocked it out of the park,” said Board of Trustee member and outgoing PBC chair Tom O’Brien ’86, P’19, who served as master of ceremonies during the dinner. “It really was a special evening.” At the end of the night, attendees stood to sing the University alma mater, another new twist. (For more information about the song’s history, see page 41.)
Francis J. Pearn ’83, P’16, managing director and chief administrative officer of global compliance at JPMorgan Chase & Co., was awarded the 2015 President’s Medal at the dinner. “It was a fantastic night. The positive comments I received from family and friends were amazing,” he said.
Pearn, a member of the University’s Board of Trustees from 2006-2015, served as vice chair of the Board and chair its finance committee. He has been an active member of the PBC since its inception in 2001, including serving as a member of its executive committee and co-chairing the 2006 PBC Annual Award Dinner. He also served the University as an executive committee member of the Pride, Passion, Promise capital campaign. In 2008, the University recognized Pearn’s generous leadership and philanthropy with the naming of The Pearn Auditorium in Brennan Hall in honor of his late father, James F. Pearn.
Paul K. Stimpfl ’83, executive vice president at Wells Fargo Capital Finance in Santa Monica, California, and Kristen Sarisky Williams ’92, global head of campus recruiting at Blackstone in New York City, co-chaired the award dinner, which raised more than $1.1 million for the University’s Presidential Scholarship Endowment Fund.
For information on becoming a PBC member, or to contribute to the Presidential Scholarship Endowment Fund, visit: scranton.edu/PBC.
