Cloudy skies with periods of light rain late. Low near 35F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..
Cloudy skies with periods of light rain late. Low near 35F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Updated: January 30, 2025 @ 4:29 pm
Dr. K. James Evans and his wife, Dr. Lisa Fiorentino, have endowed a scholarship fund at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford in memory of Evans’ brother, William J. Evans.
Dr. K. James Evans and his wife, Dr. Lisa Fiorentino, have endowed a scholarship fund at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford in memory of Evans’ brother, William J. Evans.
Dr. K. James Evans and his wife, Dr. Lisa Fiorentino, have endowed a scholarship fund at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford in memory of Evans’ brother, William J. Evans.
Evans grew up in New Kensington as the oldest of five children. His brother William (Bill) was the second oldest and only 19 months younger. They were only one year apart in school.
When Jim Evans left home to attend Grove City College, Bill and the other Evans siblings would follow. Bill went on to earn a Master of Business Administration from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and would spend his career in human resources with the Genuine Parts Company (known for its NAPA products), first in Pittsburgh and then in the Atlanta area, where he moved in 1993. He died in 2021.
Although the Evans children had started a scholarship in honor of their parents at their alma mater, Grove City College, Jim Evans wanted to remember his brother with an individual scholarship. And as the retired vice president and dean of students at Pitt-Bradford, where he served 42 years, he knew he wanted to establish it at Pitt-Bradford.
“I know the significant need so many of our students have, which motivated me to establish the scholarship here,” Jim Evans said. “Bill placed a great emphasis on education, so establishing a scholarship in his name, and doing it at Pitt-Bradford, made perfectly good sense. Our students can use as many scholarships as we can provide to them.”
One measure of student need is how many qualify to receive Pell Grants, federal grants of up to $7,395 per year given to those students with the most significant financial need. In 2024-25, a family of four must earn less than $52,500 in adjusted gross income to be eligible. At Pitt-Bradford, 44.5% of students are Pell Grant eligible.
“I know alumni in their 40s who still pay college loans,” Jim Evans said.
That’s why he also decided to make his initial gift to establish the fund $25,000, followed by a recent second gift in the same amount.
“It takes about $25,000 in a fund to award a $1,000 scholarship each year, and I wanted to make sure it was an award that would make a meaningful dent in the costs for students,” he said. He plans to continue donating to grow the fund and noted that his siblings have made donations as well.
In honor of William Evans’ career as a business executive, students in a variety of business-related majors are given priority when making the award. The scholarship will be awarded for the first time this spring.
This is the second fund that Evans and Fiorentino have endowed, having also started the K. James Evans and Lisa Fiorentino Scholarship.
Both the William Evans and Evans and Fiorentino scholarships are among hundreds of donor scholarships that returning Pitt-Bradford students are automatically considered for. During the 2023-24 academic year, 424 students received 611 donor scholarships totaling $834,461. To learn about creating a scholarship at Pitt-Bradford or to give to the Evans and Fiorentino scholarships, contact the university’s Office of Philanthropic and Alumni Engagement at (814) 362-5091 or visit upb.pitt.edu/giving.
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