The gift comes from William Fegley, Jr. and his wife Jacquelyn, a Neumann nursing alumna and former nun. The College of Nursing has been named in her honor.

Neumann University has received a $5 million gift — the largest in its history by an individual — from William Fegley, Jr., and his wife Jacquelyn to support undergraduate nursing students in the School of Nursing and Health Sciences. The family has designated $4.5 million for undergraduate nursing student scholarships and $500,000 for state-of-the-art laboratory equipment.

In recognition of the gift, the university’s BSN and graduate nursing programs were named The Jacquelyn Wilson Fegley ’71 College of Nursing at a January 16 ceremony at Neumann’s Delaware County campus.

Mr. Fegley began his career in public accounting with Arthur Young before he founded Fegley & Associates in 1975. He acted as the managing shareholder at Fegley & Associates for 47 years until he recently merged his practice into Morison Cogen LLP, where he continues to serve as partner in the Accounting and Audit Services Group.

Born and raised in Chester, Pennsylvania, Jacquelyn Wilson Fegley entered the convent of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia after graduating from Notre Dame High School in Moylan, PA, in 1962. She spent ten years with the congregation, devoted to prayer, learning, and service.

With the Sisters of St. Francis, Mrs. Fegley taught grade school for four years – one of them while living in an orphanage, caring for 13 children between the ages of three and nine – and earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing at Our Lady of Angels College (now Neumann University), graduating in 1971 as a member of the university’s second nursing class. The Sisters of St. Francis founded Neumann University in 1965.

After deciding to pursue her nursing vocation, she began a professional career in 1972 and worked at Holy Redeemer Hospital in Meadowbrook, PA, and Nazareth Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia for several years.

Mr. Fegley, who served as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Sisters of Saint Francis Foundation for four-and-a-half years and is currently a member of the Neumann University Board of Trustees, also has experience in the field of education. He is a former lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania and former adjunct professor at Drexel University and Pennsylvania State University. Both William and Jacquelyn Fegley believe in the power of higher education to transform lives.

“God was good to our family, and we are happy to be in a position, together with my husband, to provide scholarships,” Mrs. Fegley explained.

Her husband agrees: “The only way that the world is going to get better is through education. That’s what Jackie and I think. I can’t change anybody’s life. I’m not a fireman, not a policeman, not a nurse. But if one scholarship changes somebody’s life, that’s incredible.”

The couple come from humble roots. “I met Jackie in January of 1974, and we got married in September of that year,” recalled Mr. Fegley. “I had no money. We got married at a Knights of Columbus Hall in Northeast Philly, and Jackie wore a borrowed wedding dress.”

Today, they have been married for 51 years and have five children and 11 grandchildren.

Neumann University will begin awarding the Fegley scholarships in the fall of 2026. Criteria include academic achievement and financial need, and the awards will follow the students throughout their time in the nursing program. Fifteen new students each year will benefit, receiving $6,000 annually ($24,000 over four years).

Nursing is the largest undergraduate major at Neumann University with approximately 120 students per year accepted into the program. When they graduate, those BS in Nursing students have an extraordinary track record of success.

Over the last four years (October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2025), according to NCLEX-RN results released by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing, Neumann University’s nursing graduates have achieved an impressive 96.9% first-time test-takers pass rate on the exam required for licensure as a Registered Nurse. During the same four-year period, the first-time test-takers pass rate was 89.98% in Pennsylvania and 86.33% nationally.

“This extraordinarily generous gift from Bill and Jackie Fegley comes at a time when the demand for highly competent, practice-ready nurses continues to grow nationwide,” said Dr. Chris Domes, president of Neumann University. “The Fegley nursing scholarships will help meet that need and transform the lives of countless aspiring nurses, including many first-generation college students, by supporting their academic journey to a lifelong professional career.”

With more than 60% of students as the first in their families to attend college, Neumann has been recognized for social mobility by U.S. News & World Report for six consecutive years.

Dr. Theresa Pietsch, dean of the newly named Jacquelyn Wilson Fegley ’71 College of Nursing, believes that the gift will provide critical financial assistance for Neumann nursing students, many of whom become professional nurses for healthcare systems in the tri-state area when they graduate.