AlumniNews by Topic: Philanthropy

Distinguished Alumni Awards are presented annually by each of RIT’s nine colleges, the Graduate School, and the School of Individualized Study to alumni who have performed at the highest levels of their profession or who have contributed to the advancement and leadership of civic, philanthropic, or service organizations.

Phoenix, Arizona, businessman and RIT/NTID alumnus Mark Mellenger has committed $1.5 million to establish The Mark Mellenger Endowed Scholarship Fund, with an additional $25,000  pledged to the college’s Sentinel Society. The commitment is the largest by a graduate in NTID history.

RIT trustee and alumnus Andrew Jacobson has pledged $1 million in support of Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf. The Andrew Jacobson Endowed Scholarship represents the largest commitment by an RIT/NTID alumnus in the college’s history.

The mother and brother of a late NTID faculty member and alumna are paying tribute to her memory by establishing the Skyer Family Foundation Endowed Scholarship to assist deaf and hard-of-hearing students achieve success in STEM-related majors.

Eleven Rochester Institute of Technology alumni have been awarded Distinguished Alumni Awards for the 2022-2023 year.

Alana Smith, a Rochester Institute of Technology graduate, is among the first Peace Corps volunteers to serve overseas after an unprecedented two-year Peace Corps evacuation from more than 60 countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic.