Paul Nicoletti

Retired Professor's Gift Offers a Lesson in Compassion

Dr. Paul Nicoletti’s gift will benefit UF veterinary medicine students today and in the future.

It seems small now-just a $150 scholarship. But it forever changed Dr. Paul Nicoletti's life.

Without it, he might never have left his family's Missouri farm. Or earned multiple college degrees. Or become a professor at the University of Florida.

Paul hasn't forgotten what that Sears Roebuck scholarship meant to him. It's one of the reasons he's created a planned gift to fund scholarships for UF students.

"I have a very special place in my concerns for scholarships and for the support that scholarships give, financially and psychologically, to students by giving them the opportunity to go to college," he says.

Paul's gift will support graduate-level scholarships in UF's College of Veterinary Medicine, where he taught, mentored and advised students for nearly 30 years.

Although some of the support for the scholarship is an estate commitment, Paul also made a gift recently because he wanted to witness the impact firsthand during his lifetime.

This type of gift is tax-smart because of recent federal legislation that allows individuals age 70½ and older to make a qualified charitable distribution from their IRAs without owing income tax.

A Lasting Role Model
UF President Bernie Machen praises Paul as "a wonderful role modelfor aspiring veterinary medicine students."

"With this gift, he's really raised the bar," Dr. Machen says. "The next generation of veterinarians will include his great legacy."

Throughout his career, Paul received recognition nationally and internationally for his work in public health, and has even been inducted into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame.

The scholarship he's created at UF through his planned gift forever continues his legacy. "It really is incredible what scholarships mean," he says.

If you feel inspired to help future UF students by creating or giving to a scholarship, please contact us to learn more.