Photographs by Michael J. Clarke
noteworthy
Princess Margaret. Ronald Reagan. Margaret Thatcher.
Those are just a few—only a few, mind you—of the global notables that Suffolk alumnus Edward “Ed” McDonnell, BSBA ’59, HDCS ’84, met over the course of a 55-year career in the food and beverages industry.
Pretty cool for a kid from South Boston who grew up in a poor Irish immigrant family, attended Suffolk University, then rose to become president and CEO of the spirits and wine group of the Seagram Company. On the way, he helped turn Seagram into the world’s largest producer and distributor of distilled beverages.
McDonnell has lived and worked in London, Brazil, and Asia. Because that international career has meant so much to him, McDonnell endowed a travel scholarship fund that provides financial assistance for Sawyer Business School students to travel abroad. Since McDonnell established the fund a quarter of a century ago, more than 300 McDonnell scholars have had the opportunity to explore the businesses and cultures of other countries.
Return to Table of Contents
"The more you understand people from another country, the more they’ll understand you."
– Edward “Ed” McDonnell, BSBA ’59, HDCS ’84
By Ben Hall
“The more you understand people from another country, the more they’ll understand you,” he said at a November 2021 event celebrating his newly published memoirs, Prepare Yourself to Be Lucky. President Marisa Kelly praised McDonnell for his extraordinary generosity, and presented him with an album of thank-you notes from dozens of past travel scholarship recipients.
McDonnell is so committed to creating life-changing global experiences for others that he will make a legacy gift supporting the scholarship fund through his estate plans. It’s a way for his legacy to keep supporting Business School students for decades to come—something he encourages other alumni to consider in their estate planning.
“Anyone who wants a high-impact legacy—it’s worth it to make an estate gift to Suffolk because of the difference you can make,” he says.
To learn more about Planned Giving opportunities at Suffolk University, visit suffolk.giftplans.org.