Leadership giving impacts the College of Science and Technology

Honoring Professor Grant Krow

Seth Herzon, CST ’02, made a $50,000 gift to endow the Grant Krow Memorial Scholarship. Named for a former Temple chemistry professor, the fund will provide financial support for an undergraduate or graduate student with a major in the Department of Chemistry, with preference for a student who is conducting organic chemistry research. Herzon, who worked in Krow’s lab as an undergraduate, is currently a professor of chemistry at Yale University. “My scientific story has been shaped by pivotal moments and influential mentors,” said Herzon. “One such figure who left an indelible mark on my life was Professor Grant Krow. Professor Krow’s passion for physical organic chemistry sparked my interest in the field, and his mentorship gave me the confidence to pursue a career in research and academia.”Following completion of his postdoctoral studies in 1969, Krow accepted a position as an assistant professor of chemistry at Temple. He was promoted to associate professor in 1974 and to full professor in 1980. He served as a visiting professor at Oxford University and the University of Wisconsin, Madison and as chair of Temple’s Chemistry Department. He was also a practicing lawyer and earned his JD in 1978 from Temple. Krow died in 2015.

“This initiative is deeply meaningful to me, given my familial connection to Temple and Philadelphia, and my own transformational experiences there,” explained Herzon. “This scholarship will support bright, hardworking students at Temple who may have fewer resources. It will provide critical financial support to ensure that deserving students have the opportunity to excel in the field of organic chemistry.”

Funding malaria drug resistance research

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting the work of Maciej Boni, professor in the Department of Biology, whose work focuses on drug-resistance in malaria across Africa.
Malaria eradication is a top priority of the Gates Foundation. The gift of $2.175 million will go toward modeling “the emergence, spread, and mitigation of artemisinin resistance in selected African countries, with a focus on evaluating strategies designed to slow or halt the spread of artemisinin-resistant malaria.”

As an internationally recognized evolutionary epidemiologist, Boni’s work investigates how diseases evolve during epidemics. He had been researching drug resistance in malaria since 2008, long before it reached crisis levels. His lab, which operates out of the college’s Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine, is one of just a handful of labs in the world conducting the kinds of highly specialized disease modeling that can help African countries develop strategies to slow down drug resistance in malaria. He and his lab are part of several consortia and international collaborations developing the preparations and responses to artemisinin resistance in Africa, an urgent global health problem that affects hundreds of millions of people.

Supporting talented CST students

Michael Gealt, CST ’70, endowed a scholarship to support CST undergraduates. The $50,000 gift will go toward establishing the Gealt Family Scholarship, to provide a scholarship annually to a student with financial need who is enrolled in CST. Gealt has had a successful career in higher education leadership. He was Central Michigan University’s (CMU) executive vice president and provost and a professor of biology from 2013 to 2019. At the time he stepped down, he was recognized for being a champion of student success, teaching excellence and nationally recognized research endeavors. Prior to joining CMU, Gealt served as dean of the College of Science and professor of biology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock; dean of Engineering, Mathematics and Science at Purdue University Calumet, now Purdue University Northwest, and director of the School of Environmental Science, Engineering and Policy at Drexel University as well as other faculty and administrative positions at Drexel.

“I had a long and wonderful career as a university faculty member and administrator that built upon lessons learned as a Temple biology major,” explained Gealt. “Perhaps more important than what I learned in my classes was the mentoring that happened outside the classroom. Especially important in my life was the influence of biology professor Barbara Brownstein. I started the Gealt Family Scholarship to help current and future students have the same opportunities that I had.”

Helping students reach their potential

Stanley Lefkowitz, CST ’65, a member of the CST Board of Visitors and the Temple University Leadership Council is a Temple fan through and through, proudly supporting many academic and athletic areas across the university. Lefkowitz is executive vice president and chief financial officer of The Falconwood Group. For more than a decade, he and his wife, Debbie Lefkowitz, established and enhanced two CST endowed funds that have helped students reach their potential. The Debra and Stanley Lefkowitz Undergraduate Student Research Award honors students who are working directly with faculty on advanced research. The couple also established a fellowship for CST graduate students, helping the college compete with other top universities to attract talented young researchers.

Funding scholarships

Barry Arkles, CST ’70, ’76, a member of CST Board of Visitors and Temple University Board of Trustees, has consistently supported the Department of Chemistry, CST’s Distinguished Faculty Awards and the Dean’s Endowed Professorship Fund, which assists in bringing top researchers to the college. In 2021, Arkles, founder and CEO of Gelest and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, established an endowed scholarship for junior and senior students in good academic standing who are majoring in either chemistry or biochemistry.

Supporting aspiring chemists

Albert Brown, CST ’64, a member of the CST Board of Visitors and the Temple University Leadership Council, established the Albert B. Brown Chemistry Scholarship Fund in 2010. Supporting students who plan to pursue industrial chemistry as a profession, the scholarship is now one of the most significant donor-led sources of funding for CST students. Brown, a specialist in polymer chemistry who rose to corporate fellow at Rohm and Haas, has financially supported the fund many times since its inception and, in 2020, made an additional commitment to students by including the fund in his estate planning. Brown’s partner in Temple philanthropy is his wife, Marie Koals, EDU ’63, ’68.

Impacting first-year students

Jay Novik, CST ’67, chair of the CST Board of Visitors and a member of the Temple University Leadership Council, has been a long-time supporter of graduate students in the Department of Mathematics. During his career, Novik held many leadership positions in the insurance industry and is currently a principal of Black Diamond Capital Partners, a specialty private equity firm focused on insurance sector investments. In 2021, Novik made a significant gift toward undergraduate scholarships, supporting the most talented incoming first-year students across all CST majors and broadening his commitment to academic excellence.