Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
As an Italian American, I know that our story is one of perseverance, passion and a relentless pursuit of excellence. It is a legacy of individuals who, despite challenges, have built thriving communities, contributed to society in remarkable ways and remained deeply connected to their roots.
My father emigrated from Brienza, Italy, located in the province of Basilicata, while my mother emigrated from Catania, Sicily. They and their families arrived around 1920 and settled in one of Chicago’s thriving Little Italy neighborhoods. My father, Roy, worked for 50 years at the well-known Chicago retail department store Carson Pirie Scott & Co. as a salesman and later as manager of Carson’s shoe department. Although she raised me and my three siblings, my mother, Carmelina, somehow found time to work as a milliner at Hats by Sue in the Belmont-Central business district. Hardly a day would go by without my mom and dad telling us that going to college wasn’t a choice but a requirement in our family. And my father would remind us repeatedly that his family sacrificed much to leave their native country so their children would have the opportunities for an education that they didn’t have in the “old country.”
Although educational opportunities were lacking in southern Italy, my parents were proud of our Italian roots. My father needed a job to help support his immigrant family and was never able to graduate from high school, but he was self-taught and a voracious reader. He passed on to me books and reference works that recounted the critically important contributions of Italian culture to our global civilization.
My dad would wax eloquently about the lives of Dante, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Galileo, Marconi and Enrico Fermi. One of my dad’s favorite heroes was Francesco Mario Pagano — the Italian jurist, intellectual and founder of the Neapolitan school of law — who happens to be Brienza, Italy’s favorite son. Hearing stories about these luminaries from my dad inspired my own intellectual pursuits.
Nowhere is this inspiration more alive than at Chapman University in California, where Italian Studies has flourished, thanks to a shared vision and the generosity of extraordinary donors.
At the heart of this journey is Dr. Federico Pacchioni, a scholar and educator whose passion for Italian literature, film and culture has shaped the program’s identity. Born in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Pacchioni pursued an academic path that took him from Rome to Arizona and then to Indiana University Bloomington, where he earned his doctorate in Italian Studies. After teaching at the University of Connecticut and Middlebury College in Vermont, he arrived at Chapman University in 2012, where he became the Sebastian Paul and Marybelle Musco Endowed Chair in Italian Studies. Under Pacchioni’s leadership, Italian Studies at Chapman’s Orange County campus expanded its influence, leading to the creation of the Ferrucci Institute for Italian Experience and Research in 2023.
The establishment of the Ferrucci Institute is the culmination of years of dedication and remarkable generosity from a community of visionary donors who recognized the importance of Italian heritage in higher education. Their contributions have not only enriched academic opportunities but also have ensured that future generations can immerse themselves in Italy’s vast intellectual and cultural legacy.
The first pivotal moment during the 25 years I served as Chapman’s president came in 2005, when Paul Musco, a highly successful Siculo American businessman and devoted patron of the arts, established the Sebastian Paul and Marybelle Musco Endowed Chair in Italian Studies with a $1 million gift. A bust of Giacomo Puccini on our campus commemorates the establishment of the Musco Chair.
The Muscos understood that Italian Studies was the missing link in Chapman’s artistic programs, particularly for voice performance, given opera’s deep roots in Italian culture. Perhaps Paul Musco’s favorite annual event at Chapman was Paul’s “Pasta Pizza Party.” An event he funded, it was held on Columbus Day and open to the entire Chapman community. Paul told me that he loved watching our students stuff themselves with pasta and pizza. As for me, I loved watching Paul dance the tarantella with my ma.
Under Pacchioni’s leadership, the Musco chair became a driving force, bringing world-class artistic and scholarly events to campus. This attracted the attention of Vicky Carabini, a passionate advocate for Italian heritage, who spearheaded the Italian Studies Council, fostering engagement with local Italian Americans and Italophiles. A decade later, Carabini’s dedication was recognized when the Italian government honored her as a Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy for her service.
As Italian Studies continued to grow, travel courses emerged as a transformative experience for students, allowing them to engage with Italy firsthand. Witnessing the impact of these programs, the Muscos established a second $500,000 endowment in 2018. Matched by Chapman’s board of trustees, it ensured that deserving students could take part in these life-changing educational experiences in Italy.
Inspired by this movement, my successor as Chapman president — a proud Italian immigrant by the name of Dr. Daniele C. Struppa — made his own $1 million legacy gift in 2021 to establish the Bernardino Telesio Professorship in Italian Studies. Named after the 16th-century Calabrian philosopher who revolutionized modern thought by advocating for an empirical, sensory-based approach to knowledge, this gift solidified the program’s mission of uniting disciplines and broadening academic horizons.
I’m particularly proud of the creation of the Doti-Spogli Chair in Free Enterprise at Chapman. This chair was generously funded by my close friend, Ron Spogli, who served with great distinction as U.S. Ambassador to Italy from 2005 to 2009. A bust at Chapman of Leonardo Fibonacci, the eminent Italian mathematician of the 12th to 13th centuries, commemorates the establishment of the Doti-Spogli chair. Ron Spogli received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2016.
The impact of these investments did not go unnoticed. Gabriele Ferrucci, a successful entrepreneur with a deep love for education and his Italian heritage, saw an opportunity to create something truly groundbreaking. Inspired by the legacy of the Muscos and Struppa, Ferrucci and his family made a historic $1.5 million naming gift, leading to the creation of the Ferrucci Institute for Italian Experience and Research.
The Ferrucci Institute stands as a testament to the power of community, heritage and education. It represents a new interdisciplinary and humanistic paradigm rooted in Italian intellectual traditions and expanding across diverse fields of study.
With the Italian language and culture still at its core, the institute is pioneering new ways to connect disciplines, generations and cultural perspectives. New endowments, such as the Razzano Family Endowment and the Vicky and Michael Carabini Endowment, continue to sustain and expand its mission. The Institute Leadership Board, led by John Razzano, ensures that the vision for Italian Studies at Chapman remains dynamic and forward-thinking.
This movement — fueled by generations of Italian Americans, scholars and philanthropists — is about more than just preserving the past. It is about embracing Italy’s cultural and intellectual richness and bringing its lessons to the present and future. Thanks to the vision of Dr. Federico Pacchioni and the unwavering generosity of many supporters, the Ferrucci Institute is not just honoring Italian heritage — it also is shaping the next chapter of global education and cross-cultural understanding.
The article above appears in the May 2025 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.
