Iona University held a ribbon cutting and blessing ceremony for the Gabelli Center for Teaching & Learning on September 26 in New Rochelle, New York. More than 50 guests and campus partners attended the event, which highlighted the role of Catholic education and the work underway at the new center.

The Gabelli Center was established with support from Marc Gabelli, his mother Elaine Madonna Gabelli—a longtime Catholic elementary school teacher—and the EMG Madonna Foundation. The foundation is dedicated to supporting and strengthening Catholic schools.

Marc Gabelli described how he first approached Iona University President Seamus Carey, Ph.D., about improving local Catholic schools to help them remain competitive despite funding challenges. As discussions continued, Iona renovated a space next to Ryan Library to house the center. However, Gabelli emphasized that its impact extends beyond its physical location. “This is not about a building,” said Mr. Gabelli. “Teaching is at the core of my family. And as Seamus said, we’re now at a time where the offering of teaching – driven partly by AI, but certainly by technology – is going to be turned on its head… So, when we started talking about how we can strengthen teaching in our Catholic schools, it also became quite apparent that what we needed was a more integrated, faith-based approach – and a Center, in effect. And Seamus was generous to say, I have just the spot for that.”

Founded in April 2024, the Gabelli Center focuses on innovation and leadership in Catholic education. It draws on Iona’s legacy with Blessed Edmund Rice and the Christian Brothers tradition while integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into educational practice as an opportunity rather than a challenge.

The ceremony included blessings from Rev. Anthony Sorgie of Immaculate Conception & Assumption of Our Lady and Rev. Christopher J. Devron, SJ, president of Regis High School. Tricia Mulligan, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at Iona University, also addressed attendees.

President Carey discussed how the center supports innovative teaching methods rooted in Catholic values: “We recognize that AI is a tool. It accelerates the acquisition of knowledge. It accelerates problem solving. But none of that touches the core function of education, which is the internalization of learning and understanding,” Carey said. “So, it’s amazing to me, it’s so fortuitous, that Marc came along when he did, because we wouldn’t be at the forefront of AI pedagogy in the way that we are without the Gabelli Center. And because our approach to AI is focused on the development and the character and the virtues of our students, we are amplifying Catholic education in a way that most other schools are not. Thank you, Elaine, and thank you, Marc, we couldn’t be more grateful to you for this work.”

The center’s initiatives include scholarships for future teachers in Catholic schools; training K-12 educators—both Catholic and public—in AI; and hosting speaker series featuring experts in AI ethics and education.

On September 26—the same day as the ribbon cutting—Iona hosted over 225 educators from K-12 schools as well as higher education institutions across three states for its fall conference titled “The Future of Teaching: Writing, Reading and Thinking in the AI Age.” The event featured author John Warner as keynote speaker alongside presentations from Iona faculty leading efforts in innovative AI teaching methods.

Iona University has nearly 4,000 students enrolled across campuses in New Rochelle and Bronxville—about 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan—and maintains an alumni network numbering around 55,000 globally. The university offers undergraduate degrees across liberal arts fields as well as business administration programs accredited by AACSB International—a distinction held by only six percent of business schools worldwide—and graduate degrees including MBAs recognized by national rankings such as The Princeton Review's "Best Business Schools for 2025." In July 2021 Iona partnered with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital to establish its School of Health Sciences primarily based at Bronxville campus; additionally it recently opened an international campus located on Westport House Estate in County Mayo Ireland.