Noteworthy
In September, Barry Cosgrove, JD ’85, received the Council for Opportunity in Education’s (COE) Lifetime Achievement Award—a long way from the days he swept floors at Cardinal Spellman High School in Brockton to afford textbooks. COE is a national nonprofit that advocates for low-income students.
The son of a single mother and one of five boys, Cosgrove says he never imagined he’d join a list of COE honorees that includes Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis and US Senator Raphael Warnock.
After earning his law degree from Suffolk University Law School as a first-generation student, Cosgrove built a remarkable career as a healthcare entrepreneur and venture capitalist, co-founding DaVita, now one of the world’s largest dialysis providers. But the measure of his success isn’t just in what he built—it’s in how he chose to share it.
His $1 million gift to Suffolk Law created the Graciela Rojas-Trabal Term Scholarship Fund, honoring his wife Ingrid’s grandmother—a Dominican woman who raised seven children and assisted countless others despite her own poverty, always finding something to share with those who had less.
Cosgrove is a member of the Suffolk Law Dean’s Cabinet Leadership Circle, as well as the Summa Society and the Frost Society. He has also committed 10% of the proceeds from the sale of two companies to the Law School; established the John Kuchta Scholarship to honor his former boss who funded his JD studies; and included a significant legacy gift in his estate plan—bold moves aligning business success with giving back.
“Educational access without accompanying support is insufficient,” Cosgrove says. For Suffolk Law Dean Andrew Perlman, Cosgrove embodies the school’s mission: “His story is not just a perfect reflection of how Suffolk Law opens doors for our students. It’s about how our alumni choose to give back so that the next generation of graduates can achieve similar success.” —Michael Fisch
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fall 2025
Photograph courtesy of COE and Barry Cosgrove
