UMW alumna gives $30M to support research, scholarships

A 1959 graduate of the University of Mary Washington has bequeathed $30 million to her alma mater — the largest donation in the Fredericksburg university’s 115-year history — to support undergraduate research and scholarships, UMW announced Thursday.

Irene Piscopo Rodgers, who died in 2022, earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from what was then called Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia, the all-women’s sister school to U.Va. She then earned a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Michigan. Rodgers started her career at the American Cyanamid Co. as a chemist and microscopist and Philips Electronic Instruments as an electron microscopist at a time when there were few women scientists in her field of electron microscopy, a technique for obtaining high resolution images of biological and non-biological specimens. She also was an independent consultant to FEI Co., a subsidiary of Thermo Fisher Scientific, which provides electron and ion beam microscopes and tools for nanoscale applications, according to her obituary.

Rodgers’ gift will grow UMW’s undergraduate research program. Students in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics, earth and environmental sciences, computer science and math will have more opportunities to explore their research interests throughout the academic year and at the university’s Summer Science Institute, working alongside faculty mentors, according to a news release. The gift also supports the creation of four new Alvey scholarships, providing full tuition, fees and room and board for out-of-state undergraduate students for up to four years. Rodgers had already created eight Alvey scholarships.

Rodgers gave her first $50 donation to UMW in 1980, and over the next 40 years, she donated a total of $39 million, including the gift announced Thursday.

In 2004, she donated a transmission electron microscope to UMW and trained students and faculty to use it. Ten years later, she earned an honorary doctorate of humane letters for her service and contributions to UMW. She named a microscopy lab and several scholarships after her late parents. She died in July 2022 in New York.

“Students who benefited from Irene’s generosity welcomed her into their lives, so she was able to observe firsthand the transformative power of her gifts,” UMW President Troy Paino said in a statement. “This unprecedented donation guarantees that exceptional students will continue to have access to a UMW education that delivers the kind of high-impact learning experiences that Irene valued so much.”

To date, 85 students have earned awards through Rodgers’ generosity, including 15 Alvey scholarship recipients and 28 research fellowships Rodgers funded. Seven students received other scholarships and 35 students received scientific presentation grants for conference travel, also established by Rodgers, according to UMW.

“The university is so grateful to have been the beneficiary of Irene’s generosity during her lifetime and now as a lasting part of her legacy. This gift was made possible through relationships built over decades by numerous members of the Mary Washington community,” UMW Vice President for Advancement Katie Turcotte said in a statement. “Everyone who knew Irene knows how much she loved Mary Washington and helping our students pursue opportunities to conduct research.”