Franklin Pierce University Announces $1,750,000 Gift from Trustee Frederick W. Pierce, IV and Christine Pierce
Jun 13, 2024
Gift will fund construction and infrastructure for the new Dr. Kim Mooney ’83 Student Success Center
Franklin Pierce University is proud to announce the largest philanthropic commitment in its history, totaling $1,750,000, from Trustee Frederick W. Pierce, IV and his wife Christine Pierce. This commitment, which includes a $750,000 gift and a $1 million bequest intention, will fund the construction of the new Student Success Center (SSC) and ensure its continued operations. This transformative contribution highlights the University's dedication to student success and marks a significant milestone in its development.
“Creating an integrated Student Success Center that provides all students – undergraduate, graduate, and online – with readily accessible and relevant support services has been a key element of our strategic plan, Pierce@60,” said President Kim Mooney ’83. “This ambitious plan will make it easier for our students to access the support they need to thrive at, and graduate from, Franklin Pierce and we are deeply grateful that Fred and Christine understood this vision and provided the leadership gift to make it a reality.”
Located on the first and second floor of the DiPietro Library, the Student Success Center will operate as a “one-stop-shop” inclusive of Student Accessibility Services, the Wensberg Writing Center, International Students Services, and Peer Tutoring, as well as integrate programs and services that are not specifically academic, such as the Peer Leaders program. In a reflection of this intentional approach to ensuring students’ success both at Franklin Pierce and after graduation, the Lloyd and Helen Ament Astmann ’69 Career Center will be a vital part of the Student Success Center, providing a key service for all students by helping them to make clear connections between their Franklin Pierce experience and professional goals. The Astmann Center will also play a leading role in developing experiential learning opportunities through paid internship programs with partner organizations that integrate into academic courses of study.
“At the heart of any vibrant university is a center that brings together in a single location the services essential to an academic career – and the professionals that support those activities,” shared Fred Pierce. “As we learned more about the project, Christine and I just had to be a part of this.”
The Student Success Center will also support another key strategic initiative, PATHS@PIERCE. The re-envisioning of academic programs through PATHS@PIERCE has solidified FPU’s institutional commitment to providing a highly personalized learning environment for all students. This initiative provides and structures academic offerings so that all undergraduate programs connect either to a graduate degree or to a defined career trajectory. A student’s path will be based on what their ultimate objective may be, whether that includes being job market ready upon graduation, completing an undergraduate degree in three years, or progressing to a graduate degree with an accelerated completion option. In many programs, students will also be able to take their courses online and in person.
“The consolidation of all support services in one central and easy to access space, combined with proactive outreach by the new Student Success Center, will make a world of difference in helping our students succeed while at Franklin Pierce, and through to graduation,” noted Derek Scalia ’05, Director of the Student Success Center.
At the Pierce’s request, the Center will be named the Dr. Kim Mooney ’83 Student Success Center. Dr. Mooney, the first alumna and first woman to serve as president of Franklin Pierce will retire at the end of this month after serving eight years as president. A former Trustee, she previously served as the University’s Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
“Christine and I never thought about naming this project after us. What we considered was, ‘Who best embodies a commitment to FPU students? Who would deserve such a legacy and whose legacy would most benefit the Center?’ For us the answer was easy, and we were therefore delighted to surprise President Mooney by asking that the new center named after her,” noted Pierce.
Pierce went on to share that ‘along with our lead gift that will largely fund the construction and infrastructure, there is a menu of other giving opportunities that will fund essential programmatic components. That fact was also key to our interest in this project – to allow and encourage others to become a part of this important project.”
Fred Pierce has served on the Franklin Pierce Board of Trustees since 2017, most recently as Chair from 2019 - 2023. He has spent his career in real estate investment, development, consulting, finance and acquisition. Since 1995, he has served as the President, CEO, and principal shareholder of Pierce Education Properties, L.P. (“PEP”), a Top 25 national owner, operator and developer of student housing. He has also led the finance and appraisal divisions for KPMG/Goodkin Group, and was recruited by Price Waterhouse (today known as PwC) to start and build their real estate consulting practice. Mr. Pierce has served as a member of and in leadership roles on numerous boards including current Chairman of the National Multifamily Housing Council Student Housing Research Fund Advisory Board, Trustee Emeritus of the California State University System, Vice Chair of Beta Theta Pi Foundation, Chair-Elect of San Diego State University’s (SDSU) Campanile Foundation (endowment) and current member (former chairman) of SDSU’s Fowler College of Business Board of Directors, among others. Mr. Pierce is also former Chair of the City of San Diego’s Pension Fund and Poway Unified School District Foundation Board. Mr. Pierce is a frequent speaker on topics including student housing, real estate, education and the economy. He is the recipient of many professional and personal awards including the “Moving San Diego Forward Award” from the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce in 2019. He received his B.S. in Finance, cum laude, from San Diego State University, where he has also engaged in graduate studies.
