T. Jerome Holleran
2024 Founders Medal for Outstanding Service and Exceptional Achievement
As a high school senior, T. Jerome “Jerry” Holleran received financial assistance that made it possible for him to attend Carnegie Tech and subsequently launch a brilliant business career. But the help came with an important caveat: Return the favor. For 40 years, the 2024 Founders Medal recipient has done exactly that.
After earning a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering in 1957 and a master’s degree in industrial administration in 1969, Jerry went on to a career that included positions in sales, engineering, and marketing management at Westinghouse and RCA; management consulting at Booz Allen Hamilton; and business planning for the Textile Operations Division of Rockwell International.
In 1975, Jerry and several other businessmen bought a division of Rockwell International and formed an independent company, Arrow International, a medical device manufacturer. In 1997, Jerry and three associates bought a division of Arrow International and formed Precision Medical Products (PMP) which grew into a premier contract medical manufacturer. Jerry remained a director of Arrow International until it was sold in 2007. Jerry retired from active employment in 2010 at age 74 but remained on the PMP Board of Directors until it was sold in 2018.
Jerry reconnected with Carnegie Mellon in the late 1980s, helping with advancement and development efforts in a variety of roles, including being elected as a member of the university’s Board of Trustees, on which he has served for three decades. While Jerry’s personal philanthropy and volunteer leadership is truly phenomenal, what is even more notable is how he inspired others.
In 2004, Jerry and his wife, Carolyn, established the Holleran Scholarship Challenge to create more endowed scholarships at CMU. They donated $1 million to the challenge, which inspired donors who had never before created an endowed scholarship to give at least $30,000, which would be matched by $20,000 from the Hollerans to reach the minimum endowment threshold. The effort was a huge success, leading the Hollerans to add a second $1 million to the challenge, which ultimately created more than 100 new endowed scholarships and raised more than $3 million in scholarship support from first-time scholarship donors, for a total of $5.2 million. The number of students supported by the Holleran Challenge Scholarships continues to grow annually.
Over the years, Jerry has visited campus numerous times to meet with the Holleran Scholars to share his story and his passion for philanthropy, and to encourage them to make giving back a part of their lives in the future. He established the Holleran Philanthropy Education Fund to provide the scholars the opportunity to learn about philanthropy by collectively determining how dollars from the fund should support campus organizations and initiatives annually. Jerry and Carolyn have also endowed a professorship and provided support for multiple CMU capital projects, among other gifts.
The couple established the Jerlyn Foundation, a private family foundation, and regularly support Carolyn’s alma mater, Connecticut College — home of the Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy — as well as Alvernia University and other organizations in their Reading, Pennsylvania, community.
For his work and philanthropy, Jerry has been honored with numerous awards including the Alvernia University Franciscan Award, College of Independent Colleges Individual Award for Philanthropy, Andrew Carnegie Society Recognition Award, CMU Distinguished Alumni Service Award, Berks County Foundation Thun Award and United Way of Berks County Doran Award, its highest award for leadership. He was also awarded the Pagoda Award from the Berks Arts Council for his leadership and sponsorship of many arts organizations.
