January 2017: Donor of the Month featuring Mike Gray

Mike was chosen because he was the first donor to sign up for monthly giving last year. These reoccurring gifts go a long way to sustain operations. Here is Mike’s story...

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I came to Villanova in 1962 not knowing exactly what I wanted to do in life. I did know from my SAT scores that I was much better in Mathematics than English, so engineering was a natural choice. I also knew I would be in the Navy for at least four years because I was on a Navy ROTC scholarship. I graduated with a BCE in 1967 and was accepted for Navy flight training. In 1973, I left active duty and got my first civilian job as a sales engineer with an air pollution control firm, Envirotech, in Lancaster, PA. I also transition to the Naval Reserves and spent twenty three and a half years at NAS Willow Grove, PA. I retired from the Naval Reserves in 1997 as a Navy Captain. I left Envirotech after one year and began an eighteen year career in sales and marketing in the textile industry in New York City. In 1992, while working toward a MBA at Fordham, I made another career change and joined Merrill Lynch as a Financial Advisor. I will begin a two year phase out this spring before full retirement in the spring of 2019. I look forward to spending more time visiting my two daughters at Northeastern and UMass Amherst. I also look forward to watching my older grandson, Nick, fence at Stevens Institute of Technology and my middle grandson, Tom, play lacrosse in college. He is a sophomore at Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, NY and several colleges are looking at him. Villanova University is my dream for him. I am so grateful to ‘Nova for my entire experience there and love wearing my ‘colors’ every chance I get. Go Cats!