Villanova University Receives Transformational $25 Million Gift
VILLANOVA, Pa. (October 28, 2026)— Villanova University is set to benefit from a generous $25 million donation by Justin Gmelich ’90 VSB and his wife, Victoria. This substantial contribution is directed towards Espiritus Nova: The Campaign for Villanova University, a comprehensive capital campaign aimed at enhancing the university’s academic resources and infrastructure.
The donation will notably expand resources for the Victoria and Justin Gmelich ’90 Lab for Financial Markets, a facility inaugurated in 2019 at the Villanova School of Business. This lab mirrors the environment of a Wall Street trading floor and provides students access to cutting-edge technology in finance, real estate, analytics, and management information systems. High-performance computers and access to Bloomberg and other financial databases are among the technological tools available to students and faculty.
Additionally, part of the Gmelichs’ gift will be used to name the Gmelich Family Gallery within the new library located at the heart of the Villanova Campus. This gallery, which is housed in Vic Maggitti Hall, will feature historic documents related to the Civil Rights Movement, including Martin Luther King Jr.’s famed “I Have a Dream” speech. The Gmelichs were instrumental in bringing this significant document to Villanova in 2021, during Justin’s tenure as chair of the Board of Trustees.
Reflecting on his time at Villanova, Justin Gmelich shared, “During my time as a Villanova student, a moment with a faculty member had a lasting impact on me and in charting my future. That moment demonstrated to me how critical classroom opportunities are to student success, and it’s one of the many reasons Victoria and I are so committed to supporting educational opportunities at the University.”
About Victoria and Justin Gmelich
Justin Gmelich, a graduate of the Villanova School of Business in 1990, is actively involved in the university’s Espiritus Nova campaign as a co-chair. He has previously held roles as chair of the Board of Trustees and chair of the Board’s Investment Committee. Currently, he is the co-chief investment officer at Millennium Management, a global alternative investment firm based in New York City. His career includes notable positions such as partner and head of Global Markets at King Street Capital and global chief operating officer for Fixed Income, Commodities, and Currencies (FICC) at Goldman Sachs.
Victoria Gmelich, a Dartmouth College alumna, pursued a successful career in trading mortgage derivatives on Wall Street before dedicating herself to family and philanthropic initiatives, including co-founding Trinity Hall, an all-girls private high school in Tinton Falls, N.J. She also holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and has been actively involved with the Dartmouth Athletics Advisory Board.
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