|
As with many children of immigrant parents, Anthony L. Pellegrini was a high achiever, setting records in high school and representing the first in his family to attend college. His love affair with academia began when he discovered the wonderful world of learning in first grade. "I was hooked then for life, immediately becoming an intellectual sponge," said Pellegrini. "I was passionate about school and baseball until I was 15, when I dropped baseball to focus on learning as my abiding passion." After earning his bachelors, master's and doctorate degrees from Harvard University, Pellegrini taught at Harvard, Tufts and Vassar before joining Harpur College in 1962. "In its rapid development, Harpur was really a minor academic miracle," said Pellegrini, who is a professor emeritus of romance languages and literatures. "It was especially gratifying to me and my colleagues to watch how our students – many from modest and unliterary backgrounds – took to the great works of Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, Dante, and Chaucer." Since retirement 13 years ago, Pellegrini has been repaying his "lover's debt" to academia with many annual contributions to his alma mater and to Harpur to fund endowments in support of various forms of student aid. His charitable giving to Harpur began during his tenure as president of the retirees club when he persuaded the members to sponsor a scholarship in honor of legendary S. Stuart Gordon, the first dean of the college, who was instrumental in fostering the high standards that quickly brought national recognition of Harpur as a first-rate liberal arts college. Inveterate optimist, Pellegrini still thinks Harpur, among few other colleges, has the potential to cope successfully in a rapidly changing world. Driven by these convictions, Pellegrini has established four charitable gift annuities with Harpur, calling this giving vehicle a "win/win arrangement" as it benefits both the charity and the benefactor. "Besides indulging my philanthropic urge, charitable gift annuities let me enjoy a generous life income at a high rate of interest, on donated securities for example," said Pellegrini. "In addition, I avoid a capital gains tax on a possible sale of the appreciated securities, I am eligible for an immediate substantial income tax deduction, and a portion of the annuity income is tax-free as a return of capital. Another portion of the income is taxed at the capital gains rate, and only the balance is taxed at the regular rate. Thus, the net cost to me, as the donor, is quite modest." Pellegrini's most recent charitable gift annuity to Binghamton University will fund merit awards to top students in the humanities. "I believe in meritocracy and therefore in recognizing academic excellence," said Pellegrini. "In recent years, colleges have based many financial aid decisions on need. But there is definitely a place for merit awards as well." Photo caption: Pellegrini (pictured) and dear friend and colleague Aldo Bernardo have been leading an enthusiastic group of adults through Dante's "Divine Comedy" – seven times so far, finding fresh insights with each new reading. «back |
Anthony Pellegrini 
