To respond to the challenges of AI and the need for Roman Catholic-school teachers, Iona University has announced plans for the Gabelli Center for Teaching & Learning.
The center, which is scheduled to have its official opening in the Ryan Library on the 45-acre New Rochelle campus in late fall, is made possible by Marc J. Gabelli, co-chair of the Gabelli Group Capital Partners, and his mother, Elaine Madonna Gabelli, a longtime Catholic-elementary school teacher, who established the EMG Madonna Foundation to strengthen Catholic education in the metro area through grants and active student involvement. (Through a spokeswoman, the school declined to discuss the size of the gift. The Gabelli name is well-established at Iona. Marc’s father Mario, founder, chair and CEO of Gabelli Asset Management Co. (GAMCO) Investors in Rye, created an endowed professorship in finance at Iona’s LePenta School of Business. He has also pledged to advance strategic initiatives on the 28-acre Bronxville campus, home to the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Science.
The Gabelli Center is being designed by the architecture firm SLAM, which also created the university’s Murphy Green expansion in 2022 and is doing the LaPenta Student Union dining hall, which will be unveiled in spring 2025. But a spokeswoman added: “Although the Gabelli Center will have a dedicated physical space in a central location on campus in Ryan – an interim space is now open — it is more than just a space/square footage. It is a community partnership.”
The center’s first initiative will be AI@Iona to support faculty and student engagement with the rapidly evolving capabilities of artificial intelligence.
“It is imperative that Iona be nimble, imaginative and collaborative in our approach to AI,” said Seamus Carey, the university’s president. “At the same time, our fundamental dedication to the transformative power of teaching and learning remains paramount. The emergence of AI will not only reshape the nature of work but also call into question long-standing assumptions about the nature and transmission of knowledge. This provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us to reexamine our understanding and pursuit of teaching and learning.”
The Gabelli Center will also sponsor a new Catholic Teacher Corps program to create a pipeline of educators who are committed to teaching in New York’s kindergarten through 12th grade Catholic schools. Students selected for the program as Gabelli Certa Scholars will receive scholarships and tuition assistance to pursue a master’s degree in education at Iona.
“We are excited to be working with the team at Iona,” Marc Gabelli said. “Our commitment is to reinvigorate the strengths of Catholic education in the New York area and have a great alignment with the objectives of Iona” — an 84-year-old private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers.
The center’s third objective involves several annual Presidential Fellowships to fund Iona faculty research and innovation, with associated grants to additional faculty for these pursuits. The goal is to announce the first fellowships by the fall of this year, a university spokeswoman said.
At conferences, workshops and speaker series, the center will share its explorations and findings with other educators, including from local schools and districts serving students of all ages.
“We want to promote a culture of shared inquiry and interdisciplinary collaboration,” said Tricia Mulligan, the university’s provost and senior vice president of academic affairs. “Planning is also in progress for Iona to launch an interdisciplinary AI minor program for students this fall.”
“This is an exciting moment,” Carey added. “With this generous gift, Iona is poised to continue and even grow our leadership in Catholic education both on campus and off. I want to thank Marc, Elaine and the EMG Madonna Foundation for their vision and support of this vital mission.”
