The Spiros Segalas Charitable Trust Makes a Generous Gift to the Gabelli School of Business in Honor of Finance Pioneer Spiros Segalas
Announcements | Mar 22, 2024 | Gabelli School of Business
The Contribution will Name the School’s Global Initiatives and Undergraduate Advising Suite on the Lincoln Center Campus, Enhancing Critical Academic Services for Current Students
The Spiros Segalas Charitable Trust, informed by its trustee and Spiros Segalas’s daughter, Daphne Sampson, recently made a substantial gift to the Gabelli School of Business. The generous contribution made in remembrance of the late patriarch of the Segalas Family, Spiros “Sig” Segalas, will name in his honor the School’s Global Initiatives and Undergraduate Advising Suite, located on Fordham’s Lincoln Center Campus, and will greatly enhance the services it provides to students.
A pioneer in growth investing and founder of Jennison Associates, an equity management firm, Sig Segalas was instrumental in building Jennison from a large cap growth specialist manager into a top institutional investment management firm with world-class equity and fixed income capabilities, and clients around the globe. In addition to the business prowess that made him so successful, Segalas deeply embraced the values of inclusion, independent thinking, and diversity of perspectives and experiences, making them an essential part of Jennison’s corporate culture and ensuring they played a prominent role in the company’s hiring and promotion practices.
Segalas’s global business mindset, his understanding of the important role that higher education plays in preparing the next generation of leaders, and his deep commitment to mentoring those just starting out in their careers, inspired the charitable trust to make a gift that will touch the lives and influence the professional outcomes of thousands of students in the years to come.
“My father always had a global perspective regarding his investment decisions. He and my mother also had a deep appreciation for helping people through education and understood the importance of supporting educational institutions. This is why the opportunity to name the Global Initiatives and Undergraduate Advising Suite spoke to us,” noted Harry Segalas, PAR ‘14 ‘23, a Fordham parent and a sibling of Daphne Sampson, who was asked by the Charitable Trust to offer additional guidance during its deliberation process.
The Spiros Segalas Global Initiatives and Undergraduate Advising Suite will build upon the ongoing activities of the current center in assisting students to navigate their academic and professional path by helping them to assess their personal and professional strengths; identify goals for college and career; choose the courses that best meet their academic objectives; and instill in them the ethical and professional values that will serve them throughout their life and career.
The gift celebrates the close ties of the Segalas family siblings (i.e., Segalas’s children: Harry, Daphne, Christine, and Anthony) to Fordham University. Four of Spiros Segalas’s grandchildren have or are attending Fordham University, including Brendan Segalas FCLC’14, Zane Segalas GABELLI ’23, Mack Segalas (Harry’s sons), and Nick Shaw (Christine’s son). Anthony Segalas GABELLI ’86, also earned an M.B.A. from the Gabelli School. “Our family appreciates the importance and long-standing influence of New York educational institutions
with deep histories such as Fordham, and what they have been able to provide to New York City and the world at large. I have served on the boards of several schools and know the challenges educational institutions face, as well as the importance of supporting them and their students,” Harry added.
“We are deeply grateful to The Spiros Segalas Charitable Trust for this very generous gift, which will help the Gabelli School of Business to provide outstanding advising services to our undergraduate students, while advancing the School’s mission and vision of preparing future global business leaders,” said Lerzan Aksoy, dean of the Gabelli School. “Naming the advising suite for Spiros Segalas, provides a lasting legacy that speaks to his selfless commitment to helping others.”
Gifts to the Gabelli School of Business are applied directly to benefit students. If you are interested in making a gift or in legacy planning, contact Heather Gevertz, executive director of development at hgevertz@fordham.edu or 212-930-8891. The Development Office can help to identify giving opportunities that serve to advance the Gabelli School of Business in ways that are relevant and meaningful to donors. Alternatively, you can make a gift online.
