Stevenson Receives $1.3 Million Bequest from the Estate of Late Accounting Faculty Member Gil Wegad

Stevenson is pleased to announce that the university has received a $1.3 million bequest from the estate of the late Gilbert "Gil" Wegad who founded Stevenson's first program in Accounting and served as an Adjunct Professor of Accounting for nearly three decades. Professor Wegad's bequest will be used to increase the endowment for a scholarship he established for Stevenson nursing students and to support capital funding needs for campus expansion and improvements.

"Gil was a dedicated educator and advocate for Stevenson for more than 30 years," said Elliot Hirshman, President of Stevenson University. "His commitment to teaching and to student success were an inspiration to his colleagues and the generations of alumni he taught over his remarkable career. We are extremely grateful for his generous spirit and for his abiding love for Stevenson and its students that he demonstrated by establishing this gift to the university from his estate."

Born and raised in Maryland, Gill Wegad was a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who joined Stevenson (then Villa Julie College) in 1972 to establish an associate's program in Accounting at the request of former President Carolyn Manuszak. He began teaching in 1974 and continued to work as a CPA during his tenure at Stevenson until his retirement in 2003.

Professor Wegad's generosity throughout the years has helped and will continue to help Stevenson students achieve their dreams. In 1998, Professor Wegad established the Bertha G. Wegad, RN Memorial Endowment Fund for Scholarships to Nursing Students. The scholarship honors his late wife Bertha, "Bert," who passed away in 1998. Bert worked at Sinai Hospital, where she was highly regarded pediatric nurse. Bert and Gil were married for more than 40 years. In 2004, Professor Wegad married for a second time, to Sara Sacks Diamond, who shared his interests in reading and travel. They both took immense pride in their Stevenson nursing graduates and kept photos of each year's scholarship recipient in a place of honor in their home. The Wegads enjoyed many happy years together in Florida until Sara's passing. Professor Wegad passed away in 2020.

Originally founded in 1947 as Villa Julie College, Stevenson University serves more than 2,700 undergraduate students at its campus in Owings Mills, Md. The university also offers a Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D) degree as well as online master's and bachelor's programs through Stevenson University Online. Stevenson is dedicated to providing connections to careers, a supportive community, and exceptional experiences in and out of the classroom to foster our students' academic, social, and professional success.