Bill, ’90, and Nancy Matthews’ $1 million lifetime pledge will help La Salle thrive.

William “Bill” Matthews, III, Esq., ’90, had a choice coming out of La Salle College High School on where to begin his college career.

“I was the valedictorian at the high school, and Br. John D’Alfonso, FSC, was the guidance counselor at that time,” Matthews said. “He really played a fundamental role in the trajectory of my life because he convinced me to go to La Salle University when my choices were La Salle and the University of Pennsylvania.”

The late 80s and early 90s were an exciting time to be on La Salle’s campus for Matthews. Besides the thrill of Explorer basketball led by Lionel Simmons, ’90, who helped the Explorers string post season success, it was a time for Matthews to form lasting bonds with lifelong friends. In his roommates, he found like-minded students in the Honors Program under the direction of John S. Grady, “on the Mount Rushmore of teachers at La Salle.” He was also able to develop leadership skills as president of the Student Government Association (SGA).

Perhaps most importantly for Matthews, it was the continued influence of the Christian Brothers on his life which can be traced to his time at La Salle College High School and then at La Salle University. Significant influences include former La Salle President Brother Michael McGinniss, FSC, Ph.D., ’70, Brother Robert “Bob” Schaefer, FSC, M.A. ’94, ’89, and La Salle College High School President Brother James L. Butler, FSC.

“The Christian Brothers are so important,” Matthews continued. “The influence of that order on our school always needs to be paramount. There’s really no reason for La Salle to exist without them. I’m all in on the Lasallian values and the Christian Brothers.”

Matthews’ experiences as a student, the influence of the Christian Brothers, and he and his wife Nancy Matthews’ steadfast support for President Daniel J. Allen, Ph.D., are the primary drivers for a $1 million lifetime pledge that the couple have made to La Salle.

“We believe in Dan Allen and his leadership,” Bill said. “Dan knows what he’s doing. He has a plan that we can believe in and that we want to support.”

Nancy, who is not an alumna, met Bill while she was an undergraduate at University of Notre Dame and he was attending law school there. She has been involved with the Christian Brothers through La Salle College High School, where their four sons have followed in Bill’s footsteps. She recently served as president of the Mothers’ Club, an organization that supports the school’s mission through fundraising and school events. The couple has also pledged a significant donation to the high school.

“We’re really focused on Catholic education,” Nancy said. “It’s important to our family and this community that La Salle University succeeds. This gift could have been anonymous, and we would have been comfortable with that. But having our name attached is to inspire others to be generous too.”

Their donations to the University—of which there have been many over time to such initiatives as The La Salle Fund, School of Business Building Campaign, Honors Program Scholarship Initiative, Charter Dinner, and the La Salle Early Achievement Program (LEAP)—are not the only ways in which Bill and Nancy have given back to La Salle. Bill joined the Alumni Association Board in 2002 and eventually became president. When he left in 2007, he began a 15-year tenure on the Board of Trustees which he chaired from 2019–2022. Bill played an integral role in the search for La Salle’s 30th president that resulted in the appointment of Allen in 2022.

“We woke up one day and the next thing you know, I’m playing a pretty significant role in the leadership of the University,” Bill said. 

The Matthews’ connection to La Salle began with Bill’s father, William Matthews, Jr., ’75, who graduated through the night school. 

“He was totally doing it the hard way,” Bill said. “He would go to work every day and then he would go to school for three hours and fight to stay awake in class.”

Bill’s sister Maryann Malloy, DNP, RN, ’89, who transferred to La Salle and finished with a B.S. in business administration and management, would later earn a doctor of nursing practice elsewhere. She now runs the neonatal intensive care unit as the nurse manager at Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia and also serves as an adjunct professor of nursing at La Salle.

It should be no surprise then that La Salle has played such a meaningful role in his life.

“Nancy and I are in a position to do some things financially to support the things that are important to us,” Bill said. “Our gift is designed not for the school to survive, but to thrive.”

-Brian Kirschner