Meet Our Donors
Felix (Phil) Troilo
Felix (Phil) Troilo
"I hope you will be successful beyond your expectations." This simple wish was written by Felix (known as Phil) Troilo, a 1951 graduate of the College of Engineering, in a letter to recipients of his endowed scholarships. It also reflects his own life's story.
The first in his Italian immigrant family to go to college, Phil ended his career as part-owner of a manufacturing company. Its merger added substantially to his already-comfortable situation, he says, "So I just thought about giving back. Drexel had done so much to mature me, and money had been so difficult in my student years, I thought a scholarship fund was a way to give back and help students like myself."
With estate planning in mind, Phil consulted Drexel's planned giving experts and together they crafted a gift that allowed him to put the University in his will, while also contributing funds over time during his retirement. He established the Troilo Family Scholarship Fund for students with financial need, preferably from the area of New Jersey where he grew up. The Fund allows Phil to spread the tax benefits over a number of years, while also giving him the pleasure of seeing his scholarships at work.
Phil had grown up on a farm and never thought of college as an option for himself. However, after he won several awards at graduation, his father surprised him by asking if he wanted to continue his education. "In 1945 when I graduated, I was not even aware of the concept of a scholarship," Phil explains, but his father was determined: "'If you would like to go, we can work it out somehow,' he told me. So we did."
Phil covered many of his own costs at Drexel. He joined ROTC, and the $18 monthly salary paid for his room at the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house. By serving food in the women's dining hall, he earned meals and had a lot of fun. His engineering co-op salary also helped, and life at Drexel opened new worlds to a shy young man.
"The fraternity experience helped to mature me socially," Phil observes, "so that by the time I started to work professionally, I had grown substantially from the introverted personality I began with."
In fact, Phil became so gregarious that he decided not to pursue a career in engineering. He mistakenly assumed from his co-op experience that engineers always worked alone. After two years of ROTC service, he pursued "technical sales and marketing," thinking that this would use his education in people-oriented ways. He did this for 13 years and ultimately enjoyed great success in general management.
Only much later did Phil understand that a good engineer with strong people skills usually moved into management in that era. Today, Drexel engineers collaborate with all types of professionals, from physicians and oceanographers to computer scientists and art historians.
Now living in Arizona, Phil has few opportunities to meet his scholarship recipients. However, engineers are born problem solvers, so he drafted a touching letter that will be sent to each student by the University on his behalf. In it, he writes:
"I am pleased that the scholarship fund was able to help you complete you Drexel experience. I wish you well in your career. I hope you will be successful beyond your expectations. As a result of being able to help you, I assume the privilege of making a suggestion or offering you some advice. If you also are successful financially in your career, please consider helping others as you have been helped."