Scholarship Winners - Where are they Now?
Frank Perciavalle, Psi ’78 was an early scholarship winner in 1979.
“We were a family of very modest means and it was a struggle for my Mom to put me through Duquesne. As an Italian immigrant, she very badly wanted me to be the first in our family to graduate from college. Receiving the APD scholarship was a blessing and reduced the burden that we took on to fund my education. APD helped me both with the scholarship and more importantly with the brotherhood and social experiences I was blessed to have in my days at Duquesne ”
Frank is currently the Director of Logistics for BASF in Houston. He is also the Board Chair of the PERCON Charitable Gift Fund. Although Frank has moved a few times with his company he remains a member of the Pittsburgh AC and has stayed close with Rusty Scioscia, his only pledge brother from the Psi class of ’78.
Frank is an avid tennis player and has attended the last 3 Soccer World Cups to root on the Italian team. He is a dual citizen of the US and Italy and maintains a second home with his wife Pam in the southern Reggio Calabria region of Italy. His two children, Matt and Gina work and live in Ohio.
Below is a letter Frank sent to the Foundation:
In 1979, I received one of the first scholarships awarded by the fraternity. As immigrants from Italy, my parents struggled to make ends meet. My dad became ill and eventually died at a young age. My mom and I lived a modest lifestyle and at one point, she worked 3 jobs to help me get through college at Duquesne. No one in our family had ever attended college and my mom was determined to give me a better life through higher education.
The scholarship meant very much to me and helped ease the financial burden of paying for college expenses. I am proud and honored to have received this award.
Over the years, I never forgot the positive impact that the scholarship had on my life. I set a goal to someday donate money to establish our own family scholarship. At this stage of my life, we have achieved that goal. Our hope is that we are able to help deserving students ease some of their financial burden in obtaining a college degree.
My Italian heritage is part of the reason that I pledged the fraternity. Although we have grown into a diverse, welcoming fraternity, Alpha Phi Delta has never forgotten its Italian roots. Preserving this heritage is important to me.
Our fraternity bond is special and has sustained itself through the work of many involved with perpetuating these relationships. Personally, I have remained close to my pledge brother from 1978 after all these years. This bond is another example of the positive impact that the fraternity has on people’s lives. I am sure that many of us can share similar stories.
All of these have combined as motivation to fund the scholarship. My hope is that others will continue to support our fraternity in the various ways that we positively impact the lives of young people.
Below Frank Perciavalle is shaking hands with Tony Carfang after receiving the Alpha Phi Delta Scholarship, one of two awarded that year.
“We were a family of very modest means and it was a struggle for my Mom to put me through Duquesne. As an Italian immigrant, she very badly wanted me to be the first in our family to graduate from college. Receiving the APD scholarship was a blessing and reduced the burden that we took on to fund my education. APD helped me both with the scholarship and more importantly with the brotherhood and social experiences I was blessed to have in my days at Duquesne ”
Frank is currently the Director of Logistics for BASF in Houston. He is also the Board Chair of the PERCON Charitable Gift Fund. Although Frank has moved a few times with his company he remains a member of the Pittsburgh AC and has stayed close with Rusty Scioscia, his only pledge brother from the Psi class of ’78.
Frank is an avid tennis player and has attended the last 3 Soccer World Cups to root on the Italian team. He is a dual citizen of the US and Italy and maintains a second home with his wife Pam in the southern Reggio Calabria region of Italy. His two children, Matt and Gina work and live in Ohio.
Below is a letter Frank sent to the Foundation:
In 1979, I received one of the first scholarships awarded by the fraternity. As immigrants from Italy, my parents struggled to make ends meet. My dad became ill and eventually died at a young age. My mom and I lived a modest lifestyle and at one point, she worked 3 jobs to help me get through college at Duquesne. No one in our family had ever attended college and my mom was determined to give me a better life through higher education.
The scholarship meant very much to me and helped ease the financial burden of paying for college expenses. I am proud and honored to have received this award.
Over the years, I never forgot the positive impact that the scholarship had on my life. I set a goal to someday donate money to establish our own family scholarship. At this stage of my life, we have achieved that goal. Our hope is that we are able to help deserving students ease some of their financial burden in obtaining a college degree.
My Italian heritage is part of the reason that I pledged the fraternity. Although we have grown into a diverse, welcoming fraternity, Alpha Phi Delta has never forgotten its Italian roots. Preserving this heritage is important to me.
Our fraternity bond is special and has sustained itself through the work of many involved with perpetuating these relationships. Personally, I have remained close to my pledge brother from 1978 after all these years. This bond is another example of the positive impact that the fraternity has on people’s lives. I am sure that many of us can share similar stories.
All of these have combined as motivation to fund the scholarship. My hope is that others will continue to support our fraternity in the various ways that we positively impact the lives of young people.
Below Frank Perciavalle is shaking hands with Tony Carfang after receiving the Alpha Phi Delta Scholarship, one of two awarded that year.
