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In January of 1969, Arthur Clevenger, a junior at Illinois College, a private liberal arts school in Jacksonville, IL, traveled to Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Wroxton College, in Oxfordshire, England, on the advice of his college’s dean of students, to spend the spring semester immersed in all things British. Although the young man had travelled extensively with his parents throughout the United States, he had never been abroad and, alone on his first international flight, he was both excited and, he recalls, “scared to death.” Arriving at Heathrow, Clevenger had the good luck to hail a taxi driven by a friendly driver, who took pity on the intimidated young man and gave him a tour of London’s sight, free of charge, ending, finally at Paddington Station, where the Clevenger boarded a train to Banbury.

Clevenger remembers the cab he took from the station to the campus driving up the long driveway, the grounds covered in snow, and catching his first glimpse of Wroxton Abbey. “It was love at first sight,” he says.

Clevenger was one of 46 students enrolled at Wroxton that spring. The group quickly began participating in field trips, attending plays, and studying English, history, theatre, education, and economics, becoming, along the way, fast friends.

“We were on our own,” Clevenger recalls. “We learned to work together while building self-confidence and independence and created life-long friendships. We safely hitchhiked around the countryside – it was a different world and different time then. Wroxton exposed me to another culture and a whole world full of new experiences and people. It truly was a life-changing experience for me. I’ve traveled paths I never would have considered had I not gone to Wroxton.”

After college, Clevenger worked for the Marsh Company, a manufacturer headquartered in Belleville, IL, with facilities located in four other states, that his grandparents, Eugene and Darley Marsh, owned. He worked in product marking, packing products and the production of shipping supplies, making his way up through the ranks to general manager.

In the 1980s, Clevenger shifted his professional focus to industrial-use barcoding applications. He worked for several companies in data collection, label production, and barcode-based factory automation systems and retired from National Cash Register in 2000. But he found that he missed the sense of purpose that employment provided and eventually found a new passion in the tourism industry, giving city trolley tours in Asheville, NC, and, more recently, in Mobile, AL, for the past 12 years.

But, Clevenger says, his time at Wroxton has always loomed large.  “It’s just in my blood,” he says. “I feel at home in the Abbey and in the village of Wroxton, whose character always remains stoically in place. I decided to donate my home in my estate plan as a legacy gift for Wroxton, so others can enjoy the same wonderful experience that has been so much a part of my life these many years. Wroxton was the key that unlocked my quest for travel and enrichment and immersion in worldwide cultures. I hope my legacy gift allows aspiring students to achieve scholastic success and find a pathway to their dreams through their own Wroxton experience.”

Although Clevenger has travelled extensively throughout the world — he notes that he has been to 49 states, 10 Canadian provinces, and 75 countries — he returns to Wroxton over and over. “In 1995, I organized the first reunion of our Class of 1969 with 10 of our classmates at Wroxton. In 1999, I took my 79-year-old mother to Wroxton and she loved the campus. In 2001, we held a reunion in New York City with 18 classmates and a Wroxton faculty member. We returned to Wroxton in 2004, and again in 2019 with a few classmates. Ever since 2003, I have returned to Wroxton almost every year. To me, Wroxton is a state of mind complete with its gracious civility, hospitality, and historic significance,” Clevenger says.

Arthur is the Class of 1969 representative and is planning its next reunion at Wroxton as he and his classmates approach their upcoming diamond birthday jubilee next year. He is encouraging his classmates to join him for the 2023 Wroxton Alumni Getaway Trip, scheduled from July 20 to 27, 2023, with the hope of celebrating their shared 75th birthday year together at Wroxton.

Clevenger says that first taste of international travel ignited a passion that remains to this day. “Learning both in and out of the classroom was essential for the Clevenger family,” he says.

By Anne Sherber

When James Orefice, MA’91 (Metro), decided to earn his master’s degree in political science at Fairleigh Dickinson University, he was already a commodities trader on Wall Street. Through his work, he had come to understand the ways in which even small shifts in the global landscape could have enormous consequences for world markets.

But he decided to attend graduate school not because he thought it would make him a better trader — although it did — but because he was curious. Orefice, whose undergraduate degree from Widener University is in history, says that, as a trader, he spent his days poring over The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times and charting markets to determine the supply of and demand for the precious metals he traded.

“Graduate school was fun,” says Orefice. “I did it at night so, it took me a few years, but I really enjoyed the courses and the professors. It also helped me anticipate trends and make business decisions. It taught me to think and solve problems.”

Orefice remembers several professors in particular who challenged him in ways that made him a better, more insightful trader.

“In particular, the late Nasrollah Fatemi, director emeritus of the Graduate Institute of International Studies, and his son, Faramarz (Jim) Fatemi, professor emeritus of history and political science, and Helen Brudner, professor emerita of history and political science, were tough and inspirational,” Orefice says.

Orefice’s path to Wall Street and to FDU was anything but direct.

When he graduated from college in 1971, he recalls, the country was in the midst of an economic slump. So Orefice decided to work his way around the U.S., with stops as a hand on a cattle ranch; as a laborer in a meatpacking plant in Denver, Colo.; and as a mobile home mechanic; before opening his own commodities firm in Dallas, Texas.

From Dallas, he made his way back east, secured a position as a floor clerk on Wall Street and, eventually, bought membership to trade precious metals and crude oil.

Even as he zigzagged toward a successful career in the high-pressure trading world, he never lost his passion for learning.

That commitment to education became the impetus for a $2.5-million gift to FDU made by the Orefice Family Foundation as well as Orefice’s decision to include the University in his estate plans, some of which are earmarked to support scholarships and programs at FDU’s School of Public and Global Affairs.

Giving to FDU is giving someone the means to obtain an education.

James Orefice

Orefice, who hung up his trading jacket in 2010, now splits his time between homes in New Jersey and Florida and manages commercial and residential real estate.

He says that although he worked in the private sector, he strongly supports students who choose a career in public service. “Anytime you can join a nonprofit or public organization you have the chance to turn a negative world into a positive one. Giving back to the community turns a zero-sum world into a pro-sum world,” says Orefice.

Previously, Orefice’s generosity allowed the University to establish the Orefice Family Scholarship at FDU. The scholarship supports undergraduate students studying political science and international studies. The Orefice family has also contributed matching donations to the 42-hour Challenge, now known as the 42 Hours of Giving, a fundraiser named in honor of FDU’s founding in 1942.

By Anne Sherber

The rising cost of a university education inspired alumnus and benefactor Richard Brenner to look for ways to support students working toward their degrees. “So many students graduate with debt that limits their opportunities,” Brenner says. “Like many of my fellow alumni, I made a good life using the education that I received at FDU. Now, I would like to return the favor.”

Working with Pierre Balthazard, dean of FDU’s Silberman College of Business, Brenner has provided the initial $10,000 gift to establish an endowed scholarship fund for students studying in the business school.

Brenner says he has made the scholarship part of his estate plan as well, with a bequest of $250,000 that should grow over time.

“There are students hungry for an education so they can go out and make the world a better place. There are students who need a little help to realize their potential. That’s exactly who we want to invest in, and why I have helped to establish and contributed to the Silberman College of Business Endowed Scholarship Fund.”

Richard Brenner

His hope is that the fund will attract additional gifts from other alumni who have built successful careers on their FDU educations. “Any gift to this endowed scholarship will be a gift that keeps on giving,” he says.

Brenner says that he has always believed that it’s better to be lucky than good, although it could be argued that he made his own luck. Raised in a single-parent household, where money was tight, he says that there was no room in the family’s budget for college tuition. He worked full time and attended night school, with tuition assistance from his employer, in order to earn his degree at FDU.

As an undergraduate student in the early 1970s, Brenner foresaw that the future of accounting would be computerized. So, in addition to majoring in accounting, Brenner minored in what was then known as data processing. He learned to program in Cobol, Fortran, RPG II and BASIC, all of which, he now says, formed the foundation for the career he subsequently built.

After he graduated, he moved to California and, on the basis of his unusual-for-the-time combination of major and minor, landed his first job as the seventh employee of what is now known as Visa. Three years after he graduated from FDU, he was collaborating to design computerized accounting systems for companies. “I was in the right place at the right time with the right set of skills,” Brenner says. “And, as a consequence, I enjoyed a remarkable career in Silicon Valley, managing my first public offering in 1982.”

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Divyansh, who was first diagnosed with leukemia at age 12, was studying electrical engineering at FDU when he died of the disease in 2019. He was 22. The Divyansh Atman Poddar Student Scholarship will be awarded to deserving students and will also support student research projects directed by faculty members in the Gildart Haase School of Computer Science and Engineering, where Divyansh was a student.

Born in Patna, India to Nidhi and Sushil Poddar, Divyansh excelled in math and sciences and was also a gifted writer whose blog is filled with his poetry, prose, and short observations about the people he met and with whom he interacted.

In one post, Divyansh reconsiders the character of Darth Vader, the uber-villain of the Star Wars series, wondering if the soul of the heavy breathing bad guy ultimately finds redemption. In another, he writes about a brief encounter with an Uber driver who drops him off at a cancer treatment center. His parents have co-authored a book, Blaze: A Son’s Trial By Fire, about his short but rich life.

It was Divyansh’s dream to study at an American university, according to his uncle, Dr. Ajay Poddar, chief scientist at Synergy Microwave. Divyansh lived with Dr. Poddar and his aunt, Kavita Poddar while attending FDU. And even in the face of his increasingly aggressive disease, he continued to attend classes. Poddar says that he even continued to do classwork from his bed in the intensive care unit.

“He worked to hide the pain and suffering that his disease caused,” said Poddar. “He didn’t want to make his caregivers sad.”

Poddar says that the decision to create an endowed scholarship in Divyansh’s memory was an easy one.

“He had a very strong desire to continue his education. He would have been happy and proud to make that possible for others.”

Dr. Ajay Poddar

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Like so many of the immigrants who came to America to find a better life, the story of the Leva family is an inspiring one. Vincenzo and Rose Leva arrived from Italy in the early part of the 20th century and settled in the northwest New Jersey town of Boonton. Vincenzo found work as a railroad laborer and Rose took on domestic work, all with the goal of providing their children with education and opportunities.

Still, it would have been hard to imagine, that, from those humble beginnings, James Leva, born May 10, 1932, and blessed with ambition, drive and a keen intellect, would rise to the top position in the executive suites of three major utility companies.

Of course, he had some help along the way. First, he had the good fortune to meet the woman who would become his lifelong partner and cheerleader. In the spring of 1950, Jim, a talented saxophonist and his band played at a dance in a neighboring town. From the stage he noticed a pretty girl dancing with her date. Unable to keep his eyes off her, he took the bold, and, it turned out, fateful, step of asking Marie Marinaro to dance. He was smitten.

The same month that Jim graduated from high school, President Harry S. Truman announced that he was ordering U.S. air and naval forces to South Korea. Jim, who had enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserves while still in high school, was called to active duty. In December 1950, just before he was to ship out, he and Marie were married.

After the war, Jim returned, having served with distinction while enduring heavy ground force attacks. He and Marie settled in Morris County and Jim found employment with Jersey Central Power and Light, rising from apprentice utility worker to first class lineman in 1954.

Before too long, he was the father of three children. Driven to provide for his growing family, he enrolled at Fairleigh Dickinson University as a full-time day student, while still working the night shift at JCP&L, because the company paid his tuition. He knew it would be tough to attend school full-time while working full-time as a night-shift “troubleshooter,” but he was determined to move up through the ranks and into management.

Peter Sammartino, FDU’s founding president, heard about this overachieving student and gave Jim a “difficult time,” according to Marie, because he thought Jim could not keep up with his studies while working nights. Fortunately, Sally Sammartino, Peter’s wife, intervened on Jim’s behalf so he could continue his full-time work and study at FDU. Jim graduated magna cum laude in 1960 with his B.S. in electrical engineering.

With college degree in hand, Jim began his rise through JCP&L’s ranks. He became a cadet engineer in the utility’s central division engineering department and was promoted to assistant engineer the following year. He was made personnel assistant in 1962, assistant manager of employee relations in 1963, and manager of employee relations in 1968. He became vice president of personnel, safety and services in 1969 and later, vice president of consumer affairs in 1979.

Even as his career took off, Jim never stopped learning. He completed post-graduate courses in labor relations and executive management at Cornell University and the University of Michigan. Marie’s father was an attorney and inspired Jim to attend law school part-time while he continued to work full-time. He earned his law degree from Seton Hall University 1980 and was admitted to the New Jersey State Bar that same year.

In 1982, the family moved to Johnstown, PA. so that Jim could assume the position of president of the Pennsylvania Electric Company. Four years later, the Leva family returned to New Jersey when Jim was appointed president and chief operating officer of JCP&L in Morristown, the utility company where he began his career as an apprentice lineman.

In 1992, Jim accepted the position of chairman, president and chief executive officer of General Public Utilities Corporation, GPU Nuclear Corporation and all other major GPU subsidiaries, the role he held until his retirement in 1997. Professionally, Jim was a visionary who understood the changes taking place in the industry and he pushed GPU to begin exploring the potential of new energy sources, including fuel cells and solar power. He was also a supportive mentor and advocate for his team; his co-workers, employees, friends and peers attributed his success to his intellect, his professionalism, his terrific ability to listen to people and forge new partnerships and his warm and engaging personality.

Ever mindful of his humble roots, Jim was an active volunteer for numerous charitable and civic causes. He served as director for United Way of Morris County, NJ, and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. He served two terms as mayor of Morris Township and was a member of the township committee and the board of education.

In 1997, Jim and Marie relocated to Marco Island, FL, where he remained active in local affairs.

As beloved as Jim was in his professional life, he was even more treasured at home. Marie’s parents treated Jim like their own son, which was very meaningful for him. Their validation and encouragement helped to spur him on to greater and greater successes in all aspects of his life. Jim and Marie provided a loving home for their five children, James, Christopher, Linda, Michael, and Daniel, and created a supportive environment that empowered them to follow their dreams.

“Jim led with his heart [professionally] in much the same way that he did at home. He encouraged our children to live lives filled with joy, endurance, love and inspiration.”

Marie Leva

Before Jim passed away in 2006 and because he wanted to repay, in some small way, Sally Sammartino’s fortuitous intervention on his behalf at the beginning of his career, Jim and Marie created the James R. Leva Charitable Remainder Unitrust in October 2000, and designated FDU and the University of Virginia Medical Center as charitable beneficiaries. Ultimately, the University will use the bequest to establish the James R. Leva Scholarship, which will assist students working toward college degrees. Because Jim knew, firsthand, the impact that a college education could have on the trajectory of a life.

“That’s the kind of person Jim was and what he wanted to do,” says Marie. “He didn’t hold a grudge, and because that was Jim’s choice, I was all in favor of his decision to give back to FDU.”

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