Classes and Reunions
Class of 1961: The Gambas - Alumni Couple Double Up on Scholarships
 John's Story
John Gamba was able to attend the University only because of a scholarship he received from the Northern New Jersey Alumni Club. When he was in a financial position to do so, he was eager to "give back" because, he says, "nothing could be more meaningful and life-changing as the scholarship I received back in 1957."
Still, it was hearing the words of former Trustee Chair, P. Roy Vagelos, C'50, HON'99, that convinced John to make undergraduate financial aid the focus of his Penn philanthropy. When Dr. Vagelos explained that Penn's endowment for undergraduate scholarships was significantly below that of its peers, John responded by joining the University Committee for Undergraduate Financial Aid. In addition to funding the John F. and Mary Anne Spolar Gamba Scholarship, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Class of 1961 Endowed Scholarship, and he manages the Southwest Florida Alumni Club Endowed Scholarship.
The Gambas feel that attending Scholarship Celebration events has been a "highlight" of their alumni experience. "It makes it come alive when you meet the students and see that you are helping them avoid the worry of a huge financial burden. It is a nice reinforcement."
Mary Anne's Story
Mary Anne Gamba is a graduate of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Nursing Diploma program, where she fell in love with the intensive care speciality. When the diploma program ended in 1978, she felt that she and her fellow diploma graduates had lost their legitimacy in the Penn community and that their legacy was forgotten.
Returning to Penn in 1984 for a master's degree in sociology – with an emphasis on medical sociology – Mary Anne was pleased to discover a "fabulous teacher," Renee Fox, who understood the contributions of nurses and supported Mary Anne as a nurse.
"I see myself as a nurse, first and always," she says. "The skills and insight I found in nursing are central to my personhood." So, it was with a great sense of delight that Mary Anne read and heard Nursing Dean Afaf Meleis's words praising the HUP legacy in nursing. It seemed to create a legitimate identity at Penn for graduates of the HUP program. The crowning moment for Mary Anne was this year's Alumni Award of Merit presentation to Nadine Landis, a HUP graduate. She says, "It meant the world to me. I felt back in the Penn family."
Mary Anne told her husband that even though they already had an endowed undergraduate scholarship at Penn, she wanted to create another one, the Mary Anne and John Gamba Endowed Scholarship specifically for nursing students. "It is important," she says, "for the Nursing School to have the weight of alumni support. While many nurses cannot afford to make such gifts, we must understand our responsibility to the School and the profession."
From "The Penn Priority", Issue No. 6, Spring 2004, An Undergraduate Financial Aid Publication.
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