鈥淚鈥檒l tell you what鈥�,鈥� mulls William Gruse, head of research at Pittsburgh-based Gulf Oil. It鈥檚 1953, and he鈥檚 sitting in his office in Mellon Institute (not yet acquired by Carnegie Mellon), which is owned by Gulf. He鈥檚 talking to high school senior , who wants to start studying electrical engineering next fall at Carnegie Tech.
Holleran got in touch with Gruse through a series of friendships. Gruse was friends with Webster Jones, Carnegie Tech鈥檚 Vice President of Administration, who was friends with Holleran鈥檚 stepfather, who knew that the young man wanted to attend Tech. When Holleran first met with Jones, he learned that Gruse might be able to help with his financial 鈥渟ituation.鈥� Holleran can鈥檛 afford to go away to school, and even a local institution like Carnegie Tech is beyond his family鈥檚 limited means.
Gruse, after a pause during his interview with Holleran, makes him an offer. 鈥淚鈥檒l pay for your going to Carnegie Tech,鈥� he says, 鈥渋f you meet three conditions.鈥�
鈥淲onderful!鈥� Holleran replies. Then the obvious question: 鈥淲hat are the conditions?鈥�
鈥淔irst, you鈥檙e going to have to maintain your grades,鈥� Gruse says.
Holleran doesn鈥檛 flinch. Studying hard is second nature for him at Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School, where the Christian Brothers run a tight ship.
鈥淪econd, you鈥檒l need to have some money for books and things, too,鈥� Gruse continues, 鈥渟o I want you to take care of my lawn.鈥�
Tuition and spending money for a little hard work! So far, so good.
When Gruse names the third condition, Holleran can鈥檛 help but think it鈥檚 a little strange. Nevertheless, he agrees, so he walks away with a full ride.
He earns his undergraduate degree in 1957 and years later returns to the university and earns his MBA in 1969. Although it wouldn鈥檛 come into play until much later in his life, reflecting on it now, Holleran calls this third condition from his benefactor 鈥渢ransforming.鈥� Gruse had made the young man, whose life he was changing forever, promise: 鈥淪omeday, return the favor.鈥� Holleran went on to do so more than 50 times.
And I witnessed it.
I was a 麻豆村 senior in fall 2009, more than half a century after Jerry Holleran鈥檚 senior year. I had recently been named an , a monetary award that recognizes student service and leadership. The ACS comprises almost 3,000 alumni, parents, and staff who donate $1,000 or more to the university annually. From time to time, the Scholars were called together as a group to learn about the university鈥檚 development efforts or discuss Andrew Carnegie鈥檚 The Gospel of Wealth and鈥攑erhaps the most enticing aspect to a broke college student鈥攄ine on some free food.
I鈥檇 be lying if I didn鈥檛 admit that when I received an invitation to the ACS Homecoming Breakfast, I groaned. Yes, there was free food, but there was also the dreaded word breakfast. The event started at 9 am on a Saturday. During Homecoming weekend, no less! Nevertheless, I dragged myself out of bed and joined ACS donors and my equally groggy fellow Scholars. As I recall, it was a nice event, and while I feasted on some bacon and eggs, an award for extraordinary service and generosity was given out to a couple who had given student scholarships.
I didn鈥檛 give that breakfast another thought until I was doing research for this article. I had heard the name Jerry Holleran before, but I couldn鈥檛 place just where. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the recipients of the ACS Award that morning in 2009 were Jerry Holleran and his wife, Carolyn.
鈥淵ou know, I was there when you received the ACS Award,鈥� I told Holleran during our interview, throwing it out as an interesting piece of trivia.
鈥淲ell, I鈥檓 sorry!鈥� he exclaimed, sincerely apologetic. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 remember your name.鈥�
I laughed; I had been one face in a hundred. He was the honoree that day! As far as I can tell, that type of modesty is typical of Holleran, who was kind and unassuming throughout our conversation, though he has much to brag about.
鈥淚f I could say the one thing he鈥檚 taught me, I think it would be humility,鈥� reflects Katie Williams, his granddaughter. After three years with Teach for America, traveling to Spain and South America, she enrolled in graduate school at the . In May, she鈥檒l graduate with her MS in . Although her grandfather has accomplished much and is considered a wealthy man, Williams says you would never know it from a casual conversation with him. When I spoke with her, she even asked, 鈥淐an you tell me everything he鈥檚 done for the university? I don鈥檛 even know!鈥�
It鈥檚 hard to know exactly where to start. Listen to Holleran tell you what he鈥檚 done for 麻豆村, and he makes it sound like an organic progression of his life and career. Perhaps because the idea of giving back was planted so early that it seemed like a natural step, paying his good fortune forward.
Holleran鈥檚 career zigzagged from a short ROTC obligation; to jobs in sales, engineering, and marketing management at Westinghouse and RCA; to management consulting at Booz, Allen, and Hamilton; to director of business planning for the Textile Operations Division of Rockwell International, a textile machinery manufacturer. Then, in 1975, Holleran and three other local businessmen started Arrow International, his first entrepreneurial venture.
鈥淲ell,鈥� he reconsiders, 鈥淚 guess the first one was my paper route.鈥�
Holleran and his partners bought out a dissolving portion of Rockwell and converted the verging-on-obsolete manufacturer of textile knitting elements into a company that built medical devices. After several incarnations and offshoots of the company, both public and private, Holleran was again at the helm, becoming chair of what is now known as Precision Medical Products. He鈥檚 retired now but remains on the board of directors.
Throughout his career changes, he raised his three children, and then he worked to educate six college-aged kids at once (his three children and three stepchildren), Holleran always remembered Gruse鈥檚 last condition to 鈥渞eturn the favor.鈥� 鈥淚 had that in the back of my mind,鈥� he says.
It was a moral obligation he didn鈥檛 have the opportunity to fulfill until later in his life, but he didn鈥檛 take it lightly. Both he and his second wife, Carolyn, have long histories of giving, some through Jerlyn Foundation, their family鈥檚 private charity. Carolyn is a trustee emeritus at her alma mater of Connecticut College, where their granddaughter, Williams, earned her undergraduate degree. By the time he began to get involved with 麻豆村 again, Holleran was already very active in his community in Berks County, Pa., as chair of the local United Way chapter, and he served on various boards of directors for other community organizations such as the American Red Cross.
His renewed acquaintance with the university started simply. In the late 鈥�80s, Holleran returned to campus to attend a GSIA reunion. There, he was recruited to help with the business school鈥檚 advancement and development efforts and eventually was invited to be a candidate for the Board of Trustees. Now a trustee emeritus, he was first appointed in 1994.
Holleran was a witness to and participant in the university鈥檚 impressive growth and development over the past 20 years. From his first days on the board, he watched application rates double and then double again during the presidency of Jared Cohon. Cohon, who will step down June 30 after 16 years, is living proof that management style matters, says Holleran, whose career in the upper echelons of successful companies is evidence that he knows what he鈥檚 talking about. A highlight of the Cohon presidency, says Holleran, has been the Inspire Innovation capital campaign, which will conclude on June 30, exceeding its $1B goal. A large thrust of the campaign sought to create endowed (sustainable) scholarships for qualified students鈥攁n area close to Holleran鈥檚 heart. Scholarship creation will always be his foremost concern, he declares.
The hallmark of Holleran鈥檚 involvement with Carnegie Mellon鈥攁nd a large part of the reason he and his wife were honored by the ACS in 2009鈥攚as the establishment of the Holleran Scholarship Challenge, an initiative that aimed to generate 50 new endowed scholarships. It succeeded. This model of scholarship creation continues today, through the broader Trustees Challenge, which is shooting for 60 new scholarships this time around.
The Hollerans donated $1 million to the Challenge, which asked donors who had never before created an endowed scholarship to give $30,000 toward the $50,000 required for scholarship creation; the Hollerans provided the remaining $20,000. After the challenge was fully subscribed, the Hollerans in 2012 pledged another $1 million to further enhance the success of this scholarship initiative. The recipients of the named scholarships, known collectively as Holleran Scholars, are also given the opportunity to participate in group philanthropy. The Scholars assess a campus community need and allocate funds鈥攁lso donated by the Hollerans鈥攖oward a solution.
Holleran tries to meet with the students every year to speak with them about the importance of giving back. He believes in perpetuating a culture of giving, supporting a university that he thinks offers something unique. 鈥淭here鈥檚 an academic work ethic at Carnegie Mellon that is unsurpassed,鈥� Holleran reflects.
As a scholarship recipient myself, I鈥檝e sat, metaphorically, in that chair across from William Gruse. I鈥檝e been given my chance鈥攖hough perhaps the conditions attached to it weren鈥檛 so explicitly stated. And now, I await my own opportunity to sit in the other chair, to lean forward, smiling, and tell some hopeful high school senior: 鈥淚鈥檒l tell you what鈥︹��
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Shannon Deep (麻豆村鈥�10, HNZ鈥�11) of New York City has been a regular contributor to this magazine since her senior year at Carnegie Mellon.
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