Education group honors Rowan's Tumminia with Lifetime Service Award
Education group honors Rowan's Tumminia with Lifetime Service Award
March 6, 2007
Long-time Rowan University administrator Dr. Philip Tumminia, of
Haddon Heights, carried home a Lifetime Service Award from the
Council for Advancement and Support of Education's (District II)
annual conference in February in New York City. CASE is an
international professional organization for advancement
professionals who work in alumni relations, communications, and
development.
Tumminia, 64, currently is special assistant to the president/University Advancement and executive director of the Rowan University Foundation. Though he has had a multi-faceted, 38-year career at Rowan, he is perhaps best known as the man who cultivated the $100-million gift to the institution from Burlington County industrialist and philanthropist Henry Rowan and his wife, Betty, in 1992. That gift, the largest gift ever to a public institution, has been the catalyst for transforming what was then Glassboro State College into a prominent regional university.
"During the course of my career I have met many great people who were willing to join with Rowan University in improving the quality of higher education in the region," Tumminia said. "I have always felt that fundraisers' successes should not be measured in terms of money raised but rather by the increase in educational opportunity that resulted from their work. By that standard I have been truly blessed. I am indebted to the people who worked with me in bringing this vision to a reality, the donors who gave unselfishly from their wealth and a supportive family."
Noted Rowan's president, Dr. Donald Farish, "This is a fitting award for Phil, who has been a national leader in higher education advancement for years. Rowan has been fortunate to have someone with not only Phil's gifts but also with his dedication to and affection for the University and the students it serves."
A native of Camden, Tumminia earned a B.A. in history from The College of New Jersey, M.A. in supervision and curriculum development from Rowan University and Ed.D. in educational administration-higher education from Temple University.
Tumminia, who taught history at Woodrow Wilson High School, Camden, from 1964 to 1969, joined the Rowan staff in 1969 as an evaluator in the Office of Continuing Education and went on to hold increasingly more responsible positions as administrative assistant to the vice president for Administration for the offices of Security and Safety, assistant vice president for Administration, vice president for Campus Planning and vice president for Student Services.
In 1984, Tumminia was named vice president for Institutional Advancement, a post he held until 2003, and executive director of the Rowan University Foundation. Since 2003, he has served as special assistant to the president/Advancement and executive director of the Foundation.
In the last two roles, he has been a standout regionally and nationally. Among his many accomplishments were implementing the University's first capital campaign, which surpassed its $22-million goal and raised $28.3 million in gifts and pledges when completed in 2004; raising $165 million in gifts and pledges since 1983; and overseeing the University's $170-million endowment.
Additionally, Tumminia serves as chairman of the board of directors of the South Jersey Technology Park, and he provided leadership in moving the project from conceptual phase to reality. He also led the efforts to secure funding from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and Delaware River and Bay Authority for the Technology Park, which is designed to be a home for start-up and established businesses, inventors, entrepreneurs and researchers, and he was responsible for the University receiving a $1-million pledge from local industrialist Samuel H. Jones for construction of the first building.
Aside from fundraising, Tumminia was involved in such efforts as developing and implementing the admissions marketing plan that produced a 280-point increase in SAT scores and increased the class rank of incoming freshmen at Rowan from top third to top quarter.
Tumminia also has been a member and/or officer of the Association for Retarded Citizens - Camden County Unit, Men of Malvern, Organization for the Advancement of Retarded Citizens, Phi Delta Kappa, Southern New Jersey Development Council, Southern New Jersey Technology Consortium and New Jersey Council of Education.
A speaker and author on fundraising topics, Tumminia also has been the winner of numerous awards in the education, development, civic and religious fields.
Eileen Moran, Rowan's director of Development, said in her nomination of Tumminia for the CASE award, "Although the $100-million gift would be considered by many fundraisers to be the highlight of a career, Dr. Tumminia has been extremely skilled at leveraging that act of philanthropy into many other significant accomplishments for the University and the region. He has continued to achieve great things for Rowan University . . . The institution would not be where it is today without the tireless effort, talent and devotion of Dr. Philip A. Tumminia."
Noted Henry Rowan in a letter of support for the nomination, "His contributions to the education opportunities in South Jersey have been phenomenal."
Tumminia, 64, currently is special assistant to the president/University Advancement and executive director of the Rowan University Foundation. Though he has had a multi-faceted, 38-year career at Rowan, he is perhaps best known as the man who cultivated the $100-million gift to the institution from Burlington County industrialist and philanthropist Henry Rowan and his wife, Betty, in 1992. That gift, the largest gift ever to a public institution, has been the catalyst for transforming what was then Glassboro State College into a prominent regional university.
"During the course of my career I have met many great people who were willing to join with Rowan University in improving the quality of higher education in the region," Tumminia said. "I have always felt that fundraisers' successes should not be measured in terms of money raised but rather by the increase in educational opportunity that resulted from their work. By that standard I have been truly blessed. I am indebted to the people who worked with me in bringing this vision to a reality, the donors who gave unselfishly from their wealth and a supportive family."
Noted Rowan's president, Dr. Donald Farish, "This is a fitting award for Phil, who has been a national leader in higher education advancement for years. Rowan has been fortunate to have someone with not only Phil's gifts but also with his dedication to and affection for the University and the students it serves."
A native of Camden, Tumminia earned a B.A. in history from The College of New Jersey, M.A. in supervision and curriculum development from Rowan University and Ed.D. in educational administration-higher education from Temple University.
Tumminia, who taught history at Woodrow Wilson High School, Camden, from 1964 to 1969, joined the Rowan staff in 1969 as an evaluator in the Office of Continuing Education and went on to hold increasingly more responsible positions as administrative assistant to the vice president for Administration for the offices of Security and Safety, assistant vice president for Administration, vice president for Campus Planning and vice president for Student Services.
In 1984, Tumminia was named vice president for Institutional Advancement, a post he held until 2003, and executive director of the Rowan University Foundation. Since 2003, he has served as special assistant to the president/Advancement and executive director of the Foundation.
In the last two roles, he has been a standout regionally and nationally. Among his many accomplishments were implementing the University's first capital campaign, which surpassed its $22-million goal and raised $28.3 million in gifts and pledges when completed in 2004; raising $165 million in gifts and pledges since 1983; and overseeing the University's $170-million endowment.
Additionally, Tumminia serves as chairman of the board of directors of the South Jersey Technology Park, and he provided leadership in moving the project from conceptual phase to reality. He also led the efforts to secure funding from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and Delaware River and Bay Authority for the Technology Park, which is designed to be a home for start-up and established businesses, inventors, entrepreneurs and researchers, and he was responsible for the University receiving a $1-million pledge from local industrialist Samuel H. Jones for construction of the first building.
Aside from fundraising, Tumminia was involved in such efforts as developing and implementing the admissions marketing plan that produced a 280-point increase in SAT scores and increased the class rank of incoming freshmen at Rowan from top third to top quarter.
Tumminia also has been a member and/or officer of the Association for Retarded Citizens - Camden County Unit, Men of Malvern, Organization for the Advancement of Retarded Citizens, Phi Delta Kappa, Southern New Jersey Development Council, Southern New Jersey Technology Consortium and New Jersey Council of Education.
A speaker and author on fundraising topics, Tumminia also has been the winner of numerous awards in the education, development, civic and religious fields.
Eileen Moran, Rowan's director of Development, said in her nomination of Tumminia for the CASE award, "Although the $100-million gift would be considered by many fundraisers to be the highlight of a career, Dr. Tumminia has been extremely skilled at leveraging that act of philanthropy into many other significant accomplishments for the University and the region. He has continued to achieve great things for Rowan University . . . The institution would not be where it is today without the tireless effort, talent and devotion of Dr. Philip A. Tumminia."
Noted Henry Rowan in a letter of support for the nomination, "His contributions to the education opportunities in South Jersey have been phenomenal."