Two business students at Fairfield named as first McGowan Scholars | Press Releases

Two students with outstanding records in the classroom, as corporate interns and as community service volunteers, have been named Fairfield University's first William G. McGowan Scholars, created in honor of the telecommunications pioneer who developed the MCI Communications Corporation.

The William G. McGowan Charitable Fund has awarded Fairfield University $37,770 for full tuition for two students who will be entering their senior year in the fall: Dorothy Carbone of Danbury, Conn., and Erin Collins of Flushing, N.Y. They were chosen based on their high academic achievement, a major in business, an essay on the contributions of William G. McGowan and other criteria.

Dorothy Carbone is an accounting major who was on the Dean's List four semesters and interned at Sorvall Products LP in Newtown, Conn., where she applied her classroom knowledge of finance and accounting to a corporate setting. A member of the Accounting Club at the University, she is now active in petitioning for the creation of a chapter of the Accounting Honor Society, Beta Alpha Psi.

As a community volunteer, she prepared and served dinners at the Prospect House Soup Kitchen in Bridgeport, helped raise money to feed the hungry by painting a playground as part of Campus Ministry's national award-winning Hunger Cleanup Campaign, and has served as a tutor for students in finance, management and accounting. She is a graduate of Danbury High School.

In her essay, Carbone noted that McGowan purchased half of the troubled Microwave Communications Inc. in 1968 and, through his determination, changed the nature of telecommunications and "therefore the world of business. As a result of his success, the monopoly held by AT&T was disbanded and competition was introduced into the industry. Consequently, prices were lowered and the companies were forced to come up with innovations and services to stay on top."

Erin Collins, who ranks second in her class, is a dual major in accounting and finance and achieved the Dean's List for five semesters. She entered Fairfield as a Presidential Scholar as a result of her academic achievement at her high school, Mary Louis Academy. Her volunteer activities at Fairfield include serving as a driver for the Emergency Beach Task Force for Safe Rides, and working to combat drunk driving.

As an intern at Consolidated Edison Company of New York, she served in the general accounting department, and, as a member of the Financial Reports and Analysis Team, she was responsible for preparing charts and other monthly and quarterly reports, and managed the compilation and distribution of the Executive Package.

In her essay about William G. McGowan, she pointed out that he "revolutionized the world of telecommunications by placing emphasis on human potential and innovation." She added that he "recognized the strong linkage between telecommunications and economic growth" and cited his humanitarian contributions that helped produce an artificial heart.

Thanking the McGowan Fund in behalf of the University and the Scholars, Dr. Walter Ryba, acting dean of the School of Business, said "This support further enhances the recognition of the school, its students and our innovative curriculum that emphasizes the interrelationship of organizational behavior, production and operations, finance, marketing and international business."

Through the scholarships, the McGowan Charitable Fund, based in Washington, D.C., seeks to provide selected colleges and universities with a method to identify and honor outstanding students as well as to increase the stature and prestige of institutions receiving the grant. Fairfield University's School of Business is among just 300 schools of business in the U.S. accredited by the AACSB (American Assembly of Schools of Business). It has enrollment of 900 undergraduates and almost 300 graduate students pursuing an MBA.