Dartmouth has received $3 million from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation to permanently endow an undergraduate leadership development program, operated jointly with the Tuck School of Business, that supports students with an interest in social entrepreneurship.
(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
The Paganucci Fellows program, directed by the Tuck Center for Leadership, provides Dartmouth undergraduates with opportunities to participate in experiential learning that promotes the study of how businesses can create positive social and financial value—the “double bottom line.” The program is named in honor of the late Paul Paganucci ’53, Tuck ’54, who taught for many years at Tuck and also served as associate dean of Tuck and vice president of finance and treasurer for Dartmouth.
“The Paganucci Fellows program is an especially powerful instance of experiential learning,” says President Phil Hanlon ’77. “For nearly a decade, this innovative program has put Dartmouth undergraduates in the field, challenging them to take on demanding, immensely enriching projects that will benefit them for life and improve the lives of others. The Sherman Fairchild Foundation endowment now ensures that this important work can continue in perpetuity. I want to thank the foundation’s trustees for honoring Paul and supporting our students, who increasingly want to explore opportunities in social entrepreneurship.”
Paul “Pag” Paganucci was an entrepreneur, investment banker, educator, and philanthropist who graduated from Dartmouth in 1953 and from Tuck one year later. In addition to the various posts he held at Dartmouth and Tuck, he co-founded Ledyard National Bank and served on numerous boards and committees at the College and in the surrounding community.
The Paganucci Fellows Program offers Dartmouth undergraduates an intensive eight-week education in personal leadership development and social entrepreneurship. The Sherman Fairchild Foundation has provided funding for the program since its establishment in 2006.
“I am thrilled and inspired by the Paganucci program’s unparalleled success,” says Matthew Slaughter, the Paul Danos Dean of the Tuck School and the Earl C. Daum 1924 Professor of International Business. “It provides undergraduates with a dynamic educational platform to work with us here at Tuck today, in order to serve the emerging needs of the world tomorrow.”
The program sponsors fellows through their summer internships and additional work during the following academic year. In 2015, six Paganucci fellows traveled to China for a consulting project at the Dandelion School, founded by a former Paganucci fellow to provide middle-school education to the children of migrant workers. Because of China’s system of household registration, the children of migrant workers living in cities are often shut out of the public education system. The fellows were challenged to develop strategies that would enhance the Dandelion School’s impact while ensuring that it becomes a sustainable enterprise.
Projects in previous years have included creating an e-learning tool for a nonprofit organization in Africa and promoting social development among farmers in Peru.
“It has been a privilege to develop the Paganucci program almost a decade ago and to direct it since then,” says Richard McNulty, executive director of the Center for Leadership and director of the Paganucci Fellows Program. “It is an honor to know the program will reinforce Paul’s legacy—bearing his name as it serves to prepare our next generation of leaders.”
