Gidos’ $500,000 gift will support Penn State Smeal fintech initiatives

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Smeal College of Business has received a $500,000 gift from alumni Jeff and Wendy Gido to endow the Jeff and Wendy Gido – Goldman Sachs Distinction in Financial Technology Fund.

Their gift, made possible through the Goldman Sachs Gives program, is the first gift to Penn State Smeal to support programs and initiatives that prepare students for careers in the “fintech” (financial technology) industry.

Goldman Sachs Gives, a donor-advised fund where Goldman Sachs’ partners recommend grants to qualified nonprofits globally, supports programs that build and stabilize communities, increase educational opportunities, honor service and veterans, and create jobs and economic growth.

Jeff Gido, a partner at Goldman Sachs and global head of the Investment Banking Division’s financial technology sector, described fintech as anything within the financial industry that uses technology to improve, disrupt or replace financial products and services.

“When I first started following fintech, it could be anything from ATMs to online banking to the digitization of certain parts of the value chain. New companies were constantly springing up in this area, he said. “Today, it extends to insurance companies, e-commerce and investment apps and more.”

Having a front-row seat to the way technology has transformed the financial services industry over the past two decades, Jeff and his wife, Wendy, began talking about what the future of the industry might look like and how they could help Smeal prepare students for success in the room.

“I have also discussed this with my peers on Smeal’s Finance Advisory Council. We all agree that it’s important for Smeal students to be aware of and talk about fintech trends, because that’s what employers are really going to demand going forward, Jeff said.

The Gidos gift will support course or curriculum development, lectures, student organizations, competitions, site visits, networking events, and other related expenses that advance the understanding and application of fintech programs or initiatives and prepare students, especially students who contribute to the diversity of the student body, for careers in the field.

“Technology is changing the landscape of business, and Jeff and Wendy are acutely aware of how important it is for our students to be at the forefront of this change,” said Charles H. Whiteman, John and Karen Arnold Dean. “Jeff has continually stepped forward to offer guidance on how to improve our finance programs. I am grateful for the Gidos’ leadership in this realm, and I look forward to the countless ways their gift will enrich finance education at Smeal.”

As a Penn State student studying finance, economics and international business in the early 1990s, Jeff found a passion for the banking industry and graduated with a degree in economics and international business in 1994. He said he wrote his honors thesis. on bank consolidation and interviewed several economists at the Federal Reserve Bank in Washington, DC as part of his research.

These connections led to a full-time job offer, and Jeff spent five years there before earning an MBA at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

A 1994 graduate of Penn State with a degree in accounting, Wendy began her career at Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC) after graduation, and was promoted to manager. Jeff said Wendy was the one “on the fast track.”

After earning his Master of Business Administration in 2001, Jeff joined Goldman Sachs in the Financial Institutions Group while Wendy decided to turn her attention to raising their young son. The Gidos have four children, including a current Penn State student.

“I put in 60-80 hours a week in my early days at Goldman Sachs, and there’s no way I could have done it without Wendy’s support,” said Jeff.

He said fintech was just emerging as an industry when he joined Goldman Sachs, and few were covering it.

“But given my passion for banking, I knew I had found my niche,” he said.

Jeff and Wendy have been committed to giving back since they were students involved in THON. They direct their philanthropy primarily to two places: Emmanuel Cancer Foundation, a New Jersey-based charity that benefits families facing a pediatric cancer diagnosis, and Smeal.

In 2014, the couple established the Gido Family Trustee Scholarship. Two years later, they gave the Gido Family the Goldman Sachs Excellence Fund, which offers scholarship support to students studying abroad. And in 2018, Gido’s Gido Family created the Goldman Sachs Wall Street Excellence Fund to support Smeal’s Wall Street Bootcamp program.

In addition, Gidos has given to Smeal’s Trading Room Endowment and Finance Excellence Fund.

Jeff is also a founding member of Smeal’s Finance Advisory Board and said joining the board brought him even closer to Smeal.

“It creates an ownership mentality. It’s not just about giving money; it is about giving advice and providing direction for the economics programme. The great thing about the board is that Dean Whiteman really listens to the things we say and then acts. It has been incredibly rewarding, he said.

Wendy said she hoped the donation will help recreate some of the experiences she and Jeff had at Smeal for future students.

“Jeff and I met as fellow students and left Penn State with so many great memories. We want others to have the same experience,” said Wendy. “It’s important to us that Smeal students are both prepared for the workforce and have good career outcomes . When they look back, we hope they will recognize the role Penn State philanthropy may have played in their success and pay it forward themselves.”

With the record-breaking success of “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” which raised $2.2 billion from 2016 to 2022, philanthropy helps sustain the university’s mission of education, research and service to communities across the Commonwealth and around in the world . The scholarships enable Penn State to open doors and welcome students from all backgrounds, support for transformative experiences allows students and faculty to fulfill their enormous potential for leadership, and gifts of discovery and excellence help serve and impact the world. To learn more about the impact of giving and the ongoing need for support, please visit raise.psu.edu.