The University of Scranton will present the President’s Medal to Robert S. ’68 and Marilyn A. Weiss at the President’s Medal Gala Thursday, Oct. 1, at Pier Sixty, Manhattan’s largest waterfront event venue. Watch a short video message featuring Rev. Joseph G. Marina, S.J., University president, announcing the University’s intent to honor Bob and Marilyn here.
The event is the premier annual fundraiser for the University, and proceeds from the dinner benefit the Presidential Scholarship Endowment Fund, which awards four-year, full-tuition scholarships to incoming first-year students with outstanding high school records and notable community involvement. The University presents the President’s Medal to individuals who have achieved excellence in their fields and who have demonstrated extraordinary compassion for others. All alumni, parents and friends of the University are welcome and encouraged to register here for this year’s event.
Scranton has held a special place in the hearts of Bob and Marilyn ever since they met at a “U Dance” at the Gunster Memorial Student Center in 1966. Their 2015 gift of $1.25 million resulted in the creation of the Robert and Marilyn Weiss Pediatric Low Vision Research and Training Suite, and their 2016 gift of $1 million established Robert and Marilyn Weiss Field as a first-class home for Scranton’s soccer, lacrosse and field hockey teams. In 2024, their gift of $10.5 million, the largest single donation in the history of the University, blossomed into the four-story, 90,000 square-foot Robert S. and Marilyn A. Weiss Hall. The building houses the University’s Department of Criminal Justice, Cybersecurity and Sociology, the Department of Psychology, Student Health Services, the Center for Health, Education and Wellness, the Small Business Development Center, the University of Success, and the state-of-the-art IDEA Center, which features woodworking, 3D printing, laser engraving, sewing and audio recording capabilities.
A native of Lake Ariel, Bob became the first person in his family to attend college when he began studying accounting through the University’s ROTC program. As a U.S. Army Captain, he was awarded two Bronze Stars and the Army Commendation Medal for his service in Vietnam. He became a certified public accountant and began working as an assistant corporate controller in 1977 at Cooper Laboratories Inc., which would eventually become The Cooper Companies, Inc., a multinational manufacturer and marketer of specialty healthcare products with annual revenues exceeding $4 billion.
Bob rose through the ranks at Cooper during a remarkable 41-year career, serving as corporate controller, treasurer, chief financial officer, chief operating officer, president of Coopervision, and, ultimately, president and CEO. During Bob’s time at the company, Cooper had a number of industry-defining breakthroughs, including the development of intraocular lenses and Lasik surgery, two advancements that have helped millions see more clearly. Under Bob’s leadership, the company sought to address the approximately 50% of children and young adults aged 5-22 who are suffering from progressive myopia, a condition that often leads to eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, retinal detachment and macular degeneration later in life, by developing MiSight, a soft contact lens that was ultimately approved by the FDA in 2019 for myopia management in children aged 8-12. Bob was named the “Most Admired CEO of 2012” by the San Francisco Business Times, and he was recognized with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award for 2017-2018. After retiring in 2018, he became the chair of Cooper’s board of directors through January of 2026, and he remains on its board today.
Bob was honored by the University with the Frank J. O’Hara Distinguished Alumni Award in 2008. As a University trustee, he became informally known as “the pizza guru” due to his unabashed love of and enthusiasm for the pizza of Northeastern Pennsylvania. He also sponsors the Pediatric Refractive Error Training Center, an eyecare clinic in Hanoi, Vietnam, that trains optometrists to fight the growing pandemic of myopia.
A native of South Scranton, Marilyn studied at the University through the Scranton State General Hospital School of Nursing. She served as the head nurse at the Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York and as a pediatric nurse at Bayside Pediatrics in Pleasanton, California.
Bob and Marilyn are frequent sponsors of local charitable causes in the San Francisco East Bay area, including Goodness Village, which provides tiny homes and supportive services to the Tri-Valley’s formerly unhoused neighbors, Valley Humane Society, and the Bay Area Military Classic & The Joey Graves Memorial Golf Tournament, which supports Gold Star Families.
The couple are the proud parents of three children, Chris, Kim and Doug, and they are blessed with two grandchildren, Kylie and Jayden. They reside in Pleasanton, California.
An Ambitious Goal
At last year’s gala, Rev. Joseph G. Marina, S.J., University president, announced an ambitious University-wide effort to permanently endow the Presidential Scholarship Endowment Fund by raising an additional $7 million through the 2025 and 2026 President’s Medal Galas, which would bring its lifetime total up to $30 million.
“In 2002, The University of Scranton embarked upon a marathon endeavor when it held its first award dinner in support of the Presidential Scholarship Endowment Fund,” said Father Marina in a video announcing the initiative. “We are only $7 million away from securing the future of The Presidential Scholarship Endowment Fund and ensuring that our Presidential Scholars will continue to thrive at the University forever.
“Help us write the ending this 25-year marathon deserves.”
Visit this link to support Presidential Scholarships at The University of Scranton.
For more information on the President’s Medal Gala, contact Associate Vice President of Development Eric Eckenrode at eric.eckenrode@scranton.edu or Executive Director, Annual Giving & Campus Partnerships Brad Troy ’02 at bradley.troy@scranton.edu.
