Inspired to Give

by NIYALA SHAW, BA

Seton Hall alumna Rita Salva, and her husband, Lawrence J. Salva, have recently established the Rita and Lawrence Salva Endowed Fellowship Fund to aid Seton Hall’s School of Health and Medical Sciences (SHMS) students in paying for their graduate education. The fellowship award will be available to SHMS students pursuing graduate degrees in occupational therapy, physical therapy, physician assistant and speech-language pathology and will be awarded based on financial need.

Rita Salva, MA, RDH, CDA, received her graduate degree from Seton Hall’s Master of Arts in Allied Health Education program in 2004. She earned licensing as a registered dental hygienist (RDH) and certified dental assistant (CDA) from the New Jersey State Board of Dentistry and the Dental Assisting National Board, Inc., respectively. Following a 30-plus-year career as a clinician, Mrs. Salva now teaches dental hygiene at Rowan College at Burlington County, a public community college in Burlington County, New Jersey. Salva later became interested in SHMS’ health sciences program offerings. “I was looking through INS!GHTS magazine and was pretty impressed with the Nutley Interprofessional Health Sciences Campus and the interdisciplinary education being provided.” After taking a tour of the campus and meeting with Dean Shulman and several other SHMS administrators, the Salvas were further impressed and decided they wanted to help the students by setting up a graduate fellowship.

“Rita is a very big proponent of interdisciplinary care and interprofessional cooperation between various healthcare providers because that’s the future of healthcare delivery to the public,” says Mr. Salva. The couple commend the focused education and environment provided by Seton Hall’s School of Health and Medical Sciences, advising students to “take full advantage of the environment the school has provided because it’s going to make them so much more powerful in delivery of care to patients in the future,” according to Mr. Salva. About the campus’ simulation activities, Mrs. Salva adds, “That was just so impressive. I wish that I could have experienced something like that as part of my education. It is a state-of-theart facility; very impressive.”

Lawrence J. Salva is also a generous supporter of educational initiatives. During his extensive career at Comcast Corporation, where he rose to become executive vice president and chief accounting officer before retiring in 2017, Mr. Salva also began serving on Rowan University’s (his alma mater’s) board of trustees. He also serves on the board of trustees for the Financial Accounting Foundation, the organization that oversees the accounting standard setters for companies and government entities in the United States. In addition to this new SHMS initiative, Mr. and Mrs. Salva have also established the Salva Family Scholarship Fund for students working at the Rowan University WGLS-FM campus radio station and the Lawrence and Rita Salva Medical Scholars Fund at CMSRU, which assists those pursuing careers in medicine at the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (on whose advisory board Mrs. Salva serves). This philanthropic couple have demonstrated their will to give back to New Jersey’s students time and time again, giving countless students transformational educational opportunities.

“The generous creation of this fund will open doors for many of our students who may face difficulty in paying for a graduate education,” says Brian B. Shulman, PhD, Dean of the School of Health and Medical Sciences. He continues, “We are so grateful for and proud to have Seton Hall alumni who value the principles of servant leadership and interprofessional education and are willing to look back and lend a hand to the next generation of healthcare leaders.” ■

The School of Health and Medical Sciences is making a difference in the classroom, the clinic and the community. Now it’s your turn to make a difference! If you’re interested in making a gift to SHMS, please click this link today! If you are interested in learning more about establishing an endowed fellowship, a scholarship for a specific SHMS program or school-wide initiative benefitting all SHMS students, please contact: Chris Farrell Director of Major Gifts Seton Hall University (973) 378-2648 - office (862) 252-5035 - cell christopher.farrell@shu.edu