Photo from The Craig School of Business Facebook page

Fresno State business students seeking scholarships will have a bit more support coming their way with a $97,000 donation from the Pressutti family.

The Pressutti Scholarship was established in 2011 in memory of Joseph E. Pressutti, an Iowa native who moved to Hanford in 1962. The Craig School graduate had a varied career as a certified public accountant, venturing into a “nearly 40-year storm of acquisitions and mergers, start-ups and rescues,” according to his 2008 obituary.

He also became a board member of the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, which established the scholarship.

Pressutti’s son, Joe, serves as the president of The Market Grocery Store in Fresno. He said the scholarship represents a multigenerational link between the Pressuiti’s commitment to Fresno State and the promise of opportunities for future students.

“I know my father would be thrilled by this scholarship and seeing kids realize their dreams through the business program at Fresno State and benefiting from his name and his association with Ella Fitzgerald,”  Pressutti said. “My dad was my hero, and being able to keep his name alive in the community is personally very fulfilling to me.”

The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, founded in 1993 shortly before the legendary jazz vocalist’s death, provides grants for education, literacy and music education to underserved communities. 

The Pressutti Scholarship is the only Fitzgerald Foundation program supporting business administration students.

“The main goal of all of our Fitzgerald Foundation scholarships is to allow students to attend college who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford it and graduate college with as little debt as possible,” said Randal Rosman, vice president of the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation. “We want students to have a clean slate when they move out into the world post-college instead of being saddled with massive amounts of debt.”

Mikayla Marini, a recipient of the scholarship, said the support allowed her to take an internship that led her to a possible career opportunity, opening the doors to a professional position before her graduation this spring.

“The internship opened so many doors for me,” Marini said. “I loved that job, and then I got another opportunity because of it, and I never would have had this without the ability my scholarship gave me to put myself out there.”