Alumni Weekend 2020: Save the Date

New Vice Chair Michael D. Jingoli ’85 P’11 ’15, a member of the Board of Trustees since 2004, was appointed First Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees in October 2019. Jingoli has chaired the Board’s buildings and grounds committee for many years, overseeing much of the recent renovation of campus buildings as well as the construction of the 32,000-squarefoot Kenneth Kai Tai Yen Humanities Building.

Michael Jingoli is the CFO/COO of Joseph Jingoli & Son, Inc. (JINGOLI) and the co-founder and co-owner of a number of affiliate companies in the energy/construction space, as well as an owner/ investor in nearly two dozen other companies. He is also the co-founder of DCO Energy, one of the largest developers and operators of cogeneration and renewable energy projects in North America. Jingoli is a recognized expert in project finance, operations, and organizational development. Since partnering with his brother Joseph to take over JINGOLI in 1987, the company has grown from a regional contractor to a national organization with over 1,500 employees. JINGOLI is regularly ranked as an industry leader with projects developed, constructed, and/or owned throughout North America.

Chair of the Board of Trustees Peter J. Tucci, Esq., made the announcement at the October 25 board meeting and said, “I am delighted to welcome Mike as First Vice Chair of the Pennington Board of Trustees. His expansive knowledge of the construction industry and his insight into School needs and priorities have been critical to our successful expansion and renovation of Pennington’s facilities. As we plan ahead for the next ten years and develop a new campus master plan, Mike’s expertise will be invaluable to us.”

World-class student Musicians

Competing on an international level, current students Yat Fei Chan ’23, Meng Lu ’20, Cihan Sahin ’21, and Yiwei Zhu ’22 are reaping the benefits of over a decade of study and thousands of hours of practice from the age of six or younger by winning spots at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music in New York City, where they study piano and classical music with world-class college faculty for up to six hours every Saturday.

Our students auditioned for this rigorous program last spring, competing against students from around the world. They continue to display grit in their pursuit of excellence by giving up their Saturdays to enrich their musical skills with classes in music theory, music history, ear training, composition, chamber music, and solo performance. Their professors at MSM are world-renowned performers and scholar/teachers who expect perfection and high-level achievement at all times, requiring the students to practice and study for hours every day during the week in order to prepare for their courses and private lessons each Saturday.

The Pennington community supports young composer/pianist Chan, and pianists Lu, Sahin, and Zhu as they give up their Saturdays and free time between studies and other extracurricular activities to pursue this historic art form, whose pedagogies and traditions go back more than three hundred years. The students’ dedication to intense musical study will equip them with the focus and perseverance under pressure that is needed for success in whatever career they pursue beyond Pennington, whether it is in the sciences, business, or other creative fields.

Pennington’s proximity to major cultural centers such as New York City and Philadelphia attracts talented musicians from around the world. Many of our students choose to become part of the Pennington School community because of their access to Saturday pre-college music programs such as those at the Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College, and Juilliard. At the same time, these hardworking students enrich the music program at Pennington with their enthusiastic participation in our ensembles, music classes, and performances on and off campus.