SUNY Oswego announces $7.5 million donation, largest gift in school history

OSWEGO — The estate of Oswego County resident Lorraine Marano has donated $7.5 million to SUNY Oswego, the “largest single gift” in school history.

That’s according to school president Deborah Stanley, who described Marano as “an education enthusiast” in a news release.

The gift establishes the Nunzio “Nick” C. and Lorraine E. Marano endowment, which SUNY Oswego will use primarily to fund scholarships for students with financial need, especially those who are first-generation college students.

“Lorraine Marano’s profound understanding of the transformative powers of public higher education is affirmed by this extraordinarily generous gift,” Stanley said in the news release. “Her gift will help put a college education within reach for many students, fulfilling their hopes and dreams and investing in a better future for all of us, as our graduates forge productive lives in their communities.”

The late Lorraine and Nunzio “Nick” Marano had a “prosperous” agricultural business located on a muck farm in Scriba, the school said. 

Originally from Philadelphia, Lorraine Marano earned degrees at Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) in Glassboro, N.J., Drexel University, and completed the accelerated paralegal program at Syracuse University, according to SUNY Oswego.

She worked for many years as a librarian at a high school in New Jersey and later worked in the hotel and casino industry in Atlantic City.

Lorraine Marano died on Oct. 1, 2013, at the age of 67, according to SUNY Oswego.

A Scriba native, Nick Marano owned Marano Vacuum Cooling and Sales Inc. and held a seat on the New York Mercantile Exchange until his death in 2002, the university said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com