DeSales University Blesses and Dedicates the Fainor Center for Financial Services
On Wednesday, Dec. 1, Fr. James Greenfield, OSFS ’84, president of DeSales, dedicated and blessed the new Fainor Center for Financial Services on the second floor of the Gambet Center for Business and Health Care.
By his own admission, Scott Fainor ’94, chairman of Fainor Holdings, LLC, says his grades in high school were not what they could have been.
“I had a lot of fun,” he said. But his parents instilled in him and his two siblings the need for higher education.
After Fainor started his career in banking and finance, his father introduced him to Father Daniel Gambet, OSFS, then president of DeSales University. Fr. Gambet convinced Fainor to enroll in the University’s adult evening program and that “DeSales was the place for me to be,” said Fainor.
The University has been in his and his wife Cathy’s hearts ever since.
On Wednesday, Dec. 1, Fr. James Greenfield, OSFS ’84, president of DeSales, dedicated and blessed the new Fainor Center for Financial Services on the second floor of the Gambet Center for Business and Health Care. The center was formerly known as the Talen Energy Trading Room.
Chris Cocozza, Ph.D., chair of division of business, gave opening remarks and described the Fainor Center as a specialized business classroom that has the look and feel of a trading floor, with a digital ticker tape, flat screen monitors broadcasting financial news, and computers with specialized financial software.
“It is important that we teach our students how individuals and corporations raise and manage capital. Having this center gives students access to sophisticated investment analysis and forecasting software.”
Nolan Beck ’22, a senior accounting major with a data analytics minor, spoke about the importance of the center to the students, describing it as “Wall Street-esque.” He quoted Matt O’Neill ’22, a senior finance major who said that even the simple fact of having two monitors at every computer station allows Excel to be used on one monitor with real-time financial data and news on the other.
Fr. Greenfield opened his remarks with the fitting intersection of Fainor and Fr. Gambet, noting the Fainor family name in a building named for Fr. Gambet. Kathleen Reilly, a member of DeSales’ Board of Trustees, read a letter from St. Paul and then Fr. Greenfield blessed the room and the crowd.
Fainor thanked everyone for the honor and stressed the importance of investing in students, who are the future leaders of our society, and how important ethics and values are and that they are being taught here at DeSales.
Fainor served on the University’s President’s Council and then on the University’s Board of Trustees for 13 years. He was formerly president and CEO of National Penn Bank. He and his wife reside in Allentown. They have four children.
See more photos of the event here:
