Holy Cross Alumnus Establishes Scholarship for Lawrence, Mass. Students

WORCESTER, Mass. – Thomas A. Maher, a 1984 graduate, gave $100,000 to the College of the Holy Cross, for the establishment of the Jeanne R. Maher Scholarship Fund/Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Named after his late mother, the fund will provide scholarship assistance to Holy Cross students who are residents of Lawrence, Mass. and who are graduates of Lawrence High School or Central Catholic High School.

“The goal is to give students from Lawrence the chance to attend Holy Cross. Lawrence students have great aspirations. Some may just need the opportunity – from a financial standpoint – to pursue their goals,” says Maher.

“It is my hope that this scholarship will provide students from Lawrence with a level playing field and an exceptional educational experience at Holy Cross.”

Interested in helping to bring the towns of Andover and Lawrence together, Maher and his wife, Nancy, have been active in a number of community initiatives, including providing financial support and serving as tutors to elementary school children at an after-school program at Grace Church, and volunteering at Fidelity House, a nonprofit organization providing services to individuals with developmental disabilities, where they have been involved for the past 14 years.

In addition, Maher is currently working with a committee to examine the benefits of establishing a middle school in Lawrence modeled after the Jesuit Nativity schools, which seek to educate and motivate inner-city middle school students in a supportive and disciplined environment.

A member of the President’s Council, Holy Cross’ premier giving society, Maher’s latest gift represents the second scholarship fund he has established at Holy Cross. In 2001, he endowed a fund, also in memory of his mother, to assist students from his high school, Xavier High School in Manhattan, who want to attend Holy Cross. The fund was established with a gift of $125,000.

Maher is a principal of Eastern Development, LLC, of Woburn, Mass., a real estate, investment and development company. He resides in Andover, Mass., with his wife and their children, Peter and Colleen. His sister, Mary Jane (Maher) Higgins ’88, is also a graduate of Holy Cross.