The Leonard J. Savignano Endowed Scholars Program

Dr. Leonard J. Savignano was the most enthusiastic booster of the Westfield State athletics program during his tenure as president of the college from 1961-72.

An active athlete himself in high school and college, Savignano strongly encouraged the growth of the Westfield State athletics program, which grew from two to 16 teams during his tenure. Savignano personally knew most of the athletes and greeted them with his broad grin and cheerful salutations.

Westfield State as a whole saw a tremendous growth during his 11 years as president. The campus grew from two to eight buildings and the student body increased from 480 to 2,400 with another 1,800 enrolled in the evening division.

Also during his tenure, major subject areas of curriculum jumped from one, in education, to 19 including all of the liberal arts. Faculty and administration rose from 32 to 165. Dr. Savignano was inducted as the Westfield State Class of 1995 Adminstrator.

A pioneer in international education, Savignano served as state director of the Center for International Education in the state college system from 1972 to 1981. He later established International Education, Inc., which continues to work for the global betterment of education.

Savignano served as a representative to numerous education conferences in South and Central America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and was honored by the Greek and Nicaraguan governments for contributions to education there.

Savignano graduated from the Newton Public Schools and continued his education at Fitchburg State College where he was awarded his B.S. in education in 1938. He received his master’s and doctorate from Boston University.

A dedicated teacher, Dr. Savignano began his teaching career in a rural school in Tunbridge, Vermont. His public school experiences included teaching and administrative assignments in Newton, Wellesley and Needham. He was an Army veteran of World War II, and attained the rank of second lieutenant.

At the collegiate level he served on the faculty at Boston University, as Director of Teaching Training at Northeastern University, and as a visiting professor at Syracuse University. Prior to his appointment as President of Westfield State College, he was head of the Elementary Department at Framingham State College.

Savignano received several prestigious awards during his years at Westfield State, including the Springfield UNICO Club’s Man of the Year Award in 1971; the Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award from Springfield’s Channel 22 in 1972; the Enrico Fermi Award from the Massachusetts Italian-American War Veterans in 1972; and the Man of the Year Award from the Springfield Knights of Columbus Chapter in 1972.