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Gwynedd-Mercy College in Gwynedd Valley, Pa., announced Oct. 20 that it has received a gift of $5 million, the largest alumni contribution in the college’s history, to name its nursing program the Frances M. Maguire School of Nursing.

The gift from Maguire was received as the school celebrated its 50th anniversary. Frances Maguire graduated from Gwynedd-Mercy in 1955 and returned to study nursing in the mid-1970s.

“I have always been a believer in remembering where I came from and giving back in some way to those who have helped me to get where I am today,” Maguire said in a news release.

College President Kathleen Owens said the gift will form an endowment for the nursing program, and meet some immediate priorities for students and faculty. During the summer, the nursing skills laboratory was renovated with state-of-the-art equipment through funds provided by Maguire, her husband, James J. Maguire, and the Maguire Foundation.

“This extraordinary gift will transform our already excellent nursing program and take it to new levels to enhance the reputation of Mercy nurses throughout the greater Philadelphia area and beyond,” Owens said.Healthcare has played an important role throughout Frances Maguire’s life. Growing up, she observed her father working as a surgeon and her mother as a nurse. Later, after studying nursing at Gwynedd-Mercy, healthcare played a different role when she was a patient at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

“Quality healthcare is something that I have been fortuante to receive and do not take for granted,” said Maguire, who has eight children and 21 grandchildren.

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