Of all the distinctions and honors that Princetonians have earned over the years, many of the most meaningful are those that reflect a concern for the well-being of others. Nowhere is this tradition of thoughtfulness more fully exemplified than through the generosity of J. Michael Mahoney ’51, who has the distinction of having endowed more scholarship funds at Princeton than anyone else.

Mahoney, who has endowed 11 funds for the assistance of undergraduate students, began his legacy of scholarship support at Princeton in 1987 by contributing, along with a number of his classmates, to the Louis P. Kelly Jr., Class of 1951, Scholarship, established to honor the class’s former president who was well known for his tireless devotion to Princeton and his class.

Mahoney’s generosity continued in 1995, when he honored his Princeton friend and Ivy Club-mate who was killed in action in Korea in 1953. The Lieutenant John S. Gray, Class of 1950, Memorial Scholarship was established to remember the heroism of Gray, who left Princeton in his sophomore year to enter active service in Korea in the fall of 1952. He was mortally wounded by mortar shell fire as he attempted to reach an observation post to more accurately assess the enemy position.

Mahoney established this fund to commemorate Gray’s extraordinary courage and his qualities of leadership and loyalty. In that same year, Mahoney established a second fund, which pays tribute to a young victim of the war in Bosnia. Azra Buljubasic was just 12 years old when she was killed during heavy Serbian shelling in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in May 1995. A chance encounter with her photograph and her tragic story in The New York Times was enough to elicit the desire that her death be not completely in vain. Through the establishment of the Azra Buljubasic Memorial Scholarship at Princeton, Mahoney has found a particularly unique way to remember her while assisting undergraduates who, while not from circumstances as dire as Azra’s, have been afforded educational opportunities that they very well might not have otherwise had.

An interesting confluence of events caused this scholarship to be awarded to Ajla Merdanovic ’00, whose family is also from Sarajevo. She received assistance from this fund throughout her four years at Princeton. Mahoney has remained in contact with Merdanovic since her student days, and reports that she is back in Sarajevo—now working for the United Nations.

More funds followed. In 1998 Mahoney established the Matthew Baird III ’24 *25 Scholarship, honoring a friend for whom he had worked in Washington D.C. An outstanding example of “Princeton in the nation’s service,” Baird received four battle stars, the Legion of Merit, and an Air Force Commendation Ribbon for his World War II service in the South Pacific. After also serving in Korea, he became the Director of Training for the Central Intelligence Agency, where he remained until his retirement in 1966.

A total of six additional funds were established by Mahoney in 2000 alone: the Rodney Burnett Cole, Class of 1952, Memorial Scholarship Fund; the Franklin Miller Scholarship; the Dan Bavosa Scholarship; the Rami al-Dura/Sami Abu Jazar Memorial Scholarship; the Selvete and Miradije Kukaj/Zyjnete Avdiu Memorial Scholarship; and the George F. Schmucki, Class of 1941, Scholarship.

Each of these funds memorializes an individual, or a group of individuals, who encountered difficult and tragic circumstances, or who contributed in meaningful and significant ways to important causes. For example, the Rami al-Duri/Sami Abu Jazar fund remembers and honors the lives of two 12-year-old boys who were killed in the ongoing conflict between Palestinian and Israeli forces. The Dan Bavosa Scholarship was created in memory of a friend of Mahoney’s who, suffering from schizophrenia and depression, took his own life at the age of 23. The fund named for George Schmucki honors a Princetonian, who, in addition to his service to the nation as a member of the armed forces during World War II served for many years as the University’s Recording Secretary. Schmucki, says Mahoney, “inspired me so greatly by his tremendous love for and loyalty to his alma mater.” Schmucki was also instrumental in assisting Mahoney through the process of establishing many of these funds.

Most recently, in 2002, Mahoney established the Child Hurbinek Scholarship. Named for an inmate of Auschwitz who was about three years old, this fund bears witness to the brutality of his short life, while aiding us in remembering these tragic events and assisting in the education of others who may then have greater opportunity to make positive contributions to society and work to prevent sufferings such as his.

These many scholarship funds continue to assist undergraduates seeking to fulfill their educational aspirations at Princeton. At the same time, with each award, those honored are remembered, and their lives celebrated. As Mahoney has said, “It’s nice that you can memorialize people and help young students on the other end. It goes on forever, too, because these are made in perpetuity, which makes it nice.”

(Pictured above: Matthew W. Popper ‘08 meets George F. Schmucki ‘41, namesake of one of Mahoney’s many scholarships)