Impact Stories
Gifts to RIT show your Tiger Pride, whether you are an alum, a current student, a parent, a faculty member, a staff member, or a friend. Your support goes to work immediately and helps ensure that one more Tiger achieves their goal of becoming an RIT graduate. Whether providing scholarships, recruiting stellar faculty, improving facilities, or placing lab equipment in classrooms, your giving enables RIT to provide resources not covered by tuition. Each gift, no matter how small, has an enormous impact on students, faculty, and the future of RIT.
View the January 2023 Gifts in Action Newsletter
Lynne Damianos AAS '79 BS '81
When Lynne Damianos AAS ’79, BS ’81 was at RIT, there was no architectural photography major. However, from early on in her studies, she knew that’s what she wanted to do.
Lynne has made her passions into a career; she’s now the principal photographer and project manager of Damianos Photography. “A lot of people are shocked to find out that I have a degree in photography from RIT."
Holly Fitzpatrick BS '80
Holly visited RIT for an "Outstanding Freshman Competition" where prospective RIT students came to campus and stayed at the college for a couple days, staying the night in a dorm, and participating in an academic competition.
"That's when I really thought, 'Wow, my kind of people are here,'" Holly said, "I spent 16 years looking and here they were, and I never had one moment of regret because it was the perfect school for me."
Beverly Jones Markus
Although Beverly Jones Markus spent a small portion of her life in Rochester, she has never forgotten her time as a faculty member at RIT. It was an unexpected career transition for her in the 1970s, but the impact it has had on her life has lasted to this day.
Stephen Nosek MBA ‘78
Stephen Nosek MBA ‘78 almost didn’t attend RIT, but RIT’s willingness to work with him by providing some necessary accommodations, enabled Steve to choose RIT over other graduate school options.
Marie Louise “Marilu” Raman MS ’78 and Varadaraja “V.V.” Raman
Drs. Marie Louise “Marilu” Raman MS ’78 and Varadaraja “V.V.” Raman are both retired RIT faculty who chose to give back to RIT through qualified charitable distributions, or QCDs, and charitable gift annuities, or CGAs.
David Sheble BS '78
David Sheble BS ’78 and his wife Lisa have always had a genuine passion for entrepreneurship and helping people. Read more about why Dave and Lisa created a bequest endowment to support the RIT Ralph Armstrong Men’s Lacrosse fund.
Diamond Guy BS ’21
Diamond Guy BS ’21 has dreamed of becoming a pediatric dermatologist from a young age, so becoming a Destler/Johnson Rochester City Scholar (RCS), which covered her full tuition at RIT, helped her achieve her goal.
Jorge "Tony" Mendoza BS '18
Tony Mendoza BS ’18 graduated with both a bachelor's and master’s degree, but he spent much of time participating in community services projects in the Rochester area and beyond. As a scholarship recipient, RIT’s donors inspired him to give back.
Ricardo Carrion BS '21
Like many prospective RIT students, Ricardo Carrion BS ’21 was anxious to hear if he had been admitted to the university. He was not prepared for the surprise that awaited him in his acceptance letter—a full scholarship.
Hot Wheelz Team
Gifts that support student innovation projects and multidisciplinary design have helped make a group of women into a team of engineers!
Jason Shanley BS ’14
Hear from RIT alumnus, Jason Shanley BS ’14, about how the Simone Center’s support and programs helped him build UrLocker from a great student idea to a viable business.
Your gifts make great campus spaces
Did you know that students applying to RIT rate the quality of the facilities equal in importance to preparation for careers? That’s why continued support of outstanding campus facilities is so important.