Penn College Scholarship Fund to Honor Local Businesswoman

Published 03.27.2012

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Scholarships

Anita Gibbons and her late husband, Brian "J.B." Gibbons, played an important role in the expansion of Pennsylvania College of Technology when their family designed, developed, constructed and fully leased Campus View Apartments in 1989.

Anita Gibbons operated the complex from 1989 until 1997, when the family sold Campus View, along with the former PBI industrial site, to the college. Now, a newly established scholarship fund will ensure the Gibbons name will forever be associated with Penn College.

The Anita M. Gibbons Scholarship Fund will begin making awards to students at Penn College for the Fall 2012 semester. Preference will be given to full-time students in their junior or senior year of a bachelor-degree major who are academically successful and have served in the U.S. military, are on active duty, are enlisted in the Reserves or National Guard, or are dependents of veterans who were 100-percent disabled or died because of military service.

The Anita M. Gibbons Scholarship Fund is a fully endowed fund that will serve as a permanent source of scholarship awards at Penn College. Patrick Marty, a member of the Penn College Foundation Board of Directors, and his wife, Trisha Gibbons Marty, have established the fund in honor of Trisha's mother.

"In the eight years that my mother ran Campus View, she developed terrific relationships with the administration and staff at the college and even more importantly to her with hundreds of students, to whom she was known simply as "˜Mrs. G,'" Trisha Marty said. "We could think of no more appropriate way in which to honor that relationship than with a scholarship to help students afford a terrific Penn College education."

"We felt strongly that preference in awarding this scholarship should be given to veterans and their dependents," Patrick Marty said. "Honoring those who served, particularly during combat, is a key value Trisha and I have both learned from our families. We'd like to think that this scholarship also honors Anita's father, a World War II-era veteran, and all those who have followed his generation in their service to our country."

The former PBI industrial site is the location of Penn College's main entrance, the college's Student and Administrative Services Center, and the Madigan Library. The Campus View apartment complex is one of three student housing complexes on the Penn College campus.

Anita Gibbons worked closely with Penn College Senior Vice President William J. Martin throughout her tenure running Campus View and also during the negotiations that led to the sale.

"Anita has long been a friend to Penn College students as a landlord and benefactor," Martin said. "This scholarship honors Anita's friendship and generosity to the college and, ultimately, benefits our students."

For additional information about Penn College Pennsylvania's premier technical college and the home of "degrees that work" in more than 100 career areas visit online , email or call toll-free 800-367-9222.

For more information about making a gift or establishing a scholarship fund to support Penn College and its students, visit on the Web email or call the Institutional Advancement Office toll-free at 866-GIVE-2-PC (866-448-3272).