Law Schools

Cellphone entrepreneur donates $15M to law school

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The John F. Scarpa Foundation, which was formed by the founder of the American Cellular Network Corp., has donated $15 million to Villanova University’s Charles Widger School of Law.

It follows a $5 million gift that John Scarpa and his wife, Jana, made to the law school in 2015, which established the John F. Scarpa Center for Law and Entrepreneurship in the law school, according to a news release posted on the Villanova University’s website.

Also, in 2004 Scarpa donated $1.5 million to the law school to establish the John F. Scarpa Chair in Catholic Legal Studies and the annual John F. Scarpa Conference on Law, Politics and Culture.

Scarpa is also a co-founder of Unitel Wireless Communications Systems. With the recent donation, the Pennsylvania university is naming its law school building and an endowed professorship that’s focused on entrepreneurship in honor of him. Additionally, the donation will fund programming, law school scholarships and an incubator focused on entrepreneurial endeavors.

“I believe in Villanova University and in its law school and know that—together—we can inspire tomorrow’s leaders who will change the world for the better. If the law school is ‘where law meets business,’ then the Scarpa center is ‘where law meets innovation,’” Scarpa said in the news release.

Besides Villanova University, the Scarpas agreed to donate $8 million to Stockton University in 2019.

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