Pioneer Scholarship Gala to Honor Doug Kennedy and Scott Pelley

Annual event raises funds for student scholarships while recognizing SHU alumni and supporters

Sacred Heart University will honor Doug Kennedy ’78, MBA ’82 and Scott Pelley at the upcoming Pioneer Scholarship Gala. The annual event, which serves as SHU’s premier fundraiser for student scholarships, honors the achievements of alumni and University friends.

The event will take place April 20 in SHU’s Martire Family Arena.

Doug Kennedy: Influential Businessman

Kennedy graduated from SHU with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1978 and earned his MBA in finance in 1982. He is a member of SHU’s Board of Trustees and is president and CEO at Peapack-Gladstone Bank in New Jersey, where he oversees the bank’s wealth, lending and deposit services as well as branding, human resources, operations and technology.

In 2020, Kennedy was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as a class A director. He is a member of the Economic Club of New York and a member of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Kennedy was named to City & State NY’s Economic Development Power 100 list in 2022. Two New Jersey publications have repeatedly recognized him for his achievements: NJBIZ named Kennedy to its “Power 100” list from 2020 to 2023, and ROI-NJ named him in its “Influencers: Power List–Banking & Finance” each year from 2021 through 2024. ROI-NJ also named Doug a “Champion of the C-Suite” in 2023. He has been described as a passionate, highly competitive, creative and versatile financial services leader. 

Scott Pelley: Celebrated Journalist

Pelley, an award-winning journalist, has been covering news for 60 Minutes since 2004. He was reporting from the World Trade Center in New York City when the north tower collapsed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As a war correspondent, he has covered Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Sudan, and he has interviewed U.S. presidents from George H.W. Bush to Joe Biden.

Pelley has won 51 Emmy Awards for news coverage, as well as four Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Silver Batons and three George Foster Peabody Awards. He also authored Truth Worth Telling: A Reporter’s Search for Meaning in the Stories of Our Times.

“The dedication that Doug Kennedy has shown the University is evident,” said SHU President John J. Petillo. “He is generous with his time and we are grateful for his support. We are proud of everything he’s achieved in his career and thrilled to call him a SHU alum. Through his award-winning work, Scott Pelley exemplifies SHU’s mission and the culture we work so hard to create on campus. We are thankful to have his friendship. We are looking forward to honoring both exceptional professionals at this year’s gala.”

Past honorees include the Stratford-based helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, and Bill Mitchell, a SHU trustee and vice chair of the Mitchell Stores.

“As a university, it is our responsibility to provide our students with a college education that builds the skills needed to be meaningful contributors to our society,” said Paul J. Sutera, senior vice president of University advancement. “This philanthropic celebration is a great way to ensure deserving students can have their own SHU experience and become successful members of the 54,000-person alumni community.”

David Price will serve as the gala’s master of ceremonies. A journalist, he is the weather anchor on WNBC in New York. Prior to that, he co-anchored Fox 5’s Good Day New York and served as a weather anchor for CBS’s The Early Show. Price has covered major weather events, such as Hurricane Katrina, for the CBS Evening News.

SHU Board of Trustees members Julie Bonacio P’22, Suzanne Greco ’96, P’20, P’23 and Mitchell are co-chairing the gala. To learn more about the event or to participate, visit the gala webpage.