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The Lemole family—led by Gerald M. Lemole, MD, ’58 CLAS, along with his sons, G. Michael Lemole Jr., MD, ’22 EMBA, and Christopher Lemole ’00 CLAS, ’03 JD—has pledged $5 million to support the construction of Vic Maggitti Hall, the new home of Falvey Library. This generous contribution will name the Lemole Family Grand Forum, one of the building’s most impressive new venues, furthering scholarship and enhancing the learning experience at ÃÞ»¨ÌÇÖ±²¥.

Vic Maggitti Hall, currently under construction along the Riley Ellipse, will become the center of academic life at ÃÞ»¨ÌÇÖ±²¥ once completed in 2027. The 150,000-square-foot building will feature five floors of modern, technology-enabled spaces designed to amplify ÃÞ»¨ÌÇÖ±²¥â€™s research capacity, invigorate teaching and learning and foster cross-disciplinary collaboration. The Lemole Family Grand Forum will offer a welcoming environment for students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends to learn, study, discover and connect.

This expansive space—adorned with rich wood paneling and a coffered ceiling—will feature floor-to-ceiling windows, offering exceptional views of campus. Designed to be multifunctional, the Lemole Family Grand Forum will primarily serve as a study and gathering area for students, as well as a premier location for special campus events. An adjacent terrace will provide additional space outside for events.

Dr. Gerald M. Lemole, a 1958 graduate of ÃÞ»¨ÌÇÖ±²¥â€™s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is a distinguished cardiothoracic surgeon renowned for his pioneering contributions in cardiac medicine. Notably, he was part of the surgical team that performed the first successful heart transplant in the United States in 1968. Beyond his medical achievements, Dr. Lemole is a dedicated philanthropist whose gifts to ÃÞ»¨ÌÇÖ±²¥ include the Rev. Angus N. Carney Endowed University Scholarship and the Gerald M. Lemole, MD, Endowed Chair in Integrative Biology.

His son, Dr. G. Michael Lemole Jr., has continued the family’s legacy in medicine as a nationally recognized neurosurgeon. His expertise in skull base surgery and his commitment to multidisciplinary approaches have significantly advanced the field of neurosurgery. He currently serves as director of the Vickie & Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience at Abington-Jefferson Health as well as professor and vice chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University. The Lemole family’s ÃÞ»¨ÌÇÖ±²¥ ties now span multiple generations, as Michael’s daughter, Mikyla, graduated in 2023 from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Christopher Lemole, another of Dr. Gerald Lemole’s sons, works in the entertainment industry as a film producer. In 2013, he co-founded Armory Films, a Los Angeles-based film finance and production company. Armory Films has developed a number of critically acclaimed films such as Mudbound (2017), which received multiple Academy Award nominations, Arctic (2018) and The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019).

This transformative gift drives a key goal of Espiritus Nova: The Campaign for ÃÞ»¨ÌÇÖ±²¥ University, which is to invest in campus facilities and enrich student learning experiences through innovative academic spaces that foster collaboration and discovery. The new Vic Maggitti Hall will enable Falvey Library to have an even greater impact on the ÃÞ»¨ÌÇÖ±²¥ community and will serve the University’s long-term goals as a world-class institution, supporting the academic curiosity of our students and faculty.