News
Panasci gift supports pharmacy
David Panasci and his mother, Faye Panasci, review drawings of the atrium of John Kapoor Hall, the new South Campus home of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The atrium will be named the Panasci Atrium in recognition of the family’s $1 million gift. Photo: NANCY J. PARISI
-
Print -
Comments
-
“UB and the pharmacy school were a positive experience for my grandfather and father, no question about that.”
The namesake of Fay's Drugs, Faye Panasci, has given $1 million to the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, where her husband and father-in-law began their quest to build the highly successful chain of pharmacies that catered to their customers' every need.
Along with her son, David Panasci, and daughter, Beth Leventhal, Faye Panasci is continuing the family's tradition of giving back to UB begun by the late Henry A. Panasci Jr., B.A. '48, B.S. '52, and his father, the late Henry A. Panasci Sr., B.A. '25, by contributing $1 million to fund the atrium of the new home for the pharmacy school, John Kapoor Hall, on the South Campus.
In honor of the family's generosity, UB will name the atrium the Panasci Atrium.
"Knowing how important the pharmacy school was to Henry and his father, I am delighted to be able to support the construction of the new building and the future of the school," Faye Panasci said.
Giving to one's community and, in particular, supporting education, has been a longtime tradition in the Panasci family. Both Henry Panasci Sr. and Henry Panasci Jr. gave to their alma mater in order to endow pharmacy student scholarships. In 1999, Henry Panasci Jr. gave $1 million to UB to create the annual technology entrepreneurship competition that bears his name.
Fay’s was co-founded by Henry Panasci Sr. and Henry Panasci Jr. in 1958; the first Fay's drugstore was in Syracuse. Fay's boasted more than 270 locations and nearly $1 billion in annual sales when J.C. Penney Co. acquired the company in 1996.
"We are pleased to once again be honored with a gift from the Panasci family, whose legacy of giving to UB began long ago with Henry Panasci Sr., was passed on to Henry Jr., and now is continued through the generosity of his wife, Faye Panasci, and their children," Wayne K. Anderson, dean of the pharmacy school, said. "As Fay's grew in size and success, the Panascis never forgot their founding premise: to value their customers and give back to their communities, which is reflected in this most recent and generous gift."
President John B. Simpson praised the Panascis for "viewing UB as an institution worthy of the family's investment and trust.
"Their support of UB and, in particular, of the pharmacy school's new flagship building, demonstrates the family's continuing ability to spot the highest quality products, in this case, higher education," Simpson said. "We thank the Panasci family for offering the gift of learning to future generations of students."
David Panasci said that his grandfather and father, both of whom are deceased, would be thrilled to be giving once again to UB and to the pharmacy school, which they view as sharing their "sense of community."
"UB and the pharmacy school were a positive experience for my grandfather and father, no question about that. They had a very strong sense of loyalty to UB," David Panasci said. "My father especially would be so excited about giving back because of the growth the university and the school have seen in the past few years."
He said the atrium is very fitting for his family to support because no such space exists currently and it "offers the school a renewed sense of community for the students and faculty."
David Panasci is actively involved in the pharmacy school, serving on its National Industrial Advisory Board, lecturing in pharmacy management classes and mentoring students in the National Community Pharmacy Association's annual Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition.
The UB pharmacy school is preparing for its eventual move to the South Campus, where it will join the university's four other health science schools—dental medicine, medicine, nursing and public health—that comprise the UB Academic Health Center.
Reader Comments