Outgoing chairman of College’s board of trustees, Thomas O’Malley ’63, contributes largest gift in College’s history.
9/24/12 – Riverdale, NY – Thomas D. O’Malley ’63, former chairman of the board of trustees (right), has committed $10 million toward the building of Manhattan College’s new Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons. O’Malley’s contribution is the largest gift in the College’s history and will benefit a much-needed space for the growing campus community.
“Mary Alice and I are pleased to be able to continue our support for Manhattan College, and particularly to have the honor of the lead gift for a building that will be named after a Manhattan graduate who has and continues to give great service to his city and his country,” said O’Malley, executive chairman of PBF Energy Company LLC. “Police Commissioner Ray Kelly does, in our view, reflect all that Manhattan College teaches. His success, service and unblemished reputation provides the model that we ask our students to aspire to.”
The $10 million contribution will advance the College’s ongoing campaign to build a state-of-the-art student commons, which is expected to break ground at the end of the year.
“My classmate Tom O’Malley’s generous contribution of time and personal wealth to our alma mater is in the finest traditions of the College and its patron saint, John Baptist de La Salle. I am honored beyond measure to have the new student center named after me, which I recognize as a tribute also to the life-saving work of the entire New York City Police Department, and to the many outstanding Manhattan alumni who have served in its ranks,” said Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly.
O’Malley has served as chairman of Manhattan’s board of trustees for the past seven years until this past July, and was also a trustee from 1987-2002. In addition to his nearly 50-year professional career, he has served on the boards of several educational and charitable organizations. To honor O’Malley’s continuous dedication to Manhattan College, the College formally renamed the renovated library the Mary Alice and Tom O’Malley Library in 2002, and also awarded him a Doctor of Humane Letters at the 2012 Spring Commencement. “
Tom and Mary Alice O’Malley are true heroes of Manhattan College,” said Brennan O’Donnell, Ph.D., president. “Their past generosity, in funding the O’Malley Library and other initiatives, has already strengthened the institution enormously; this unprecedented new gift in support of the Kelly Commons will allow yet another huge stride forward.”
Thus far, the College has raised $29 million toward the student commons, which includes O’Malley’s recent gift.
Above is a rendering of the Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons building: Edward I. Mills & Associates and Perkins Eastman Architects PC, A Joint Venture.