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Four individuals pose together in a well-lit room, with a painting of a building and palm trees in the background.

Four individuals pose together in a well-lit room, with a painting of a building and palm trees in the background.

Calegaris Establish Two Endowed Scholarships at Leavey School of Business

Professor Michael Calegari, who joined Leavey more than two decades ago and retires this August, and his wife Mary have established two endowed scholarships supporting first-generation and transfer students — a gift rooted in their own experiences navigating higher education with limited resources.

Professor Michael Calegari and his wife, Mary, have established two endowed scholarships at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business through a future bequest. When their gift is realized, one scholarship will support first-generation undergraduates with demonstrated financial need, while the other will assist transfer students pursuing degrees in accounting or accounting and information systems.

The couple first documented their bequest intention in 2022, ensuring that their generosity will one day create lasting opportunities for the kinds of students they know well: those balancing ambition with limited resources, and talent with real barriers to opportunity. Their future gift reflects a belief that education has the power to transform lives, and that the opportunity to pursue it should be within reach for deserving students for generations to come.

Michael, who served as an associate professor of accounting at the Leavey School of Business for more than two decades, retired this past August. In sharing their gift publicly, he and Mary hope their story might inspire others to consider a legacy of their own.

The scholarships are personal in nature, each reflecting the paths that brought both Michael and Mary to education in the first place. Michael began at a community college before transferring to the University of San Francisco, supported along the way by scholarships and a father who believed, as a first-generation college graduate, that education could change a life. Mary grew up in Maui, where she taught math to neighborhood children while her parents worked in the fields. A first-generation college graduate herself, she went on to become a professor at San José State University, where she championed access, equity, and financial literacy for students navigating barriers of opportunity.

In doing so, the Calegaris join a growing community of Santa Clara faculty and staff whose generosity reflects a commitment to the university's Jesuit mission and to the students who carry it forward.

To learn more about planned giving at Santa Clara, contact the Office of Planned Giving at giftplanning@scu.edu or visit scu.planmygift.org.

Sep 21, 2026