FDU Dedicates the Francis J. Mertz Presidential Suite
President Avaltroni and Gail Mertz with Mertz Scholars.
On September 27, 2025, members of the Fairleigh Dickinson University community gathered inside historic Hennessy Hall on the Florham Campus to celebrate a leader whose vision and generosity helped shape the institution we know today. With family, friends, colleagues, and scholars present, the University formally dedicated the Francis J. Mertz Presidential Suite in memory of FDU’s fifth president, who passed away earlier this year.
Guests began the morning in Lenfell Hall with a light breakfast and time to reconnect before FDU President Michael Avaltroni welcomed the crowd. In his remarks, Avaltroni reflected on the extraordinary leadership of Francis J. “Frank” Mertz, who guided the University through some of its most challenging years in the late 1980s and 1990s.
“Frank often called himself a caretaker of the University,” Avaltroni shared. “But he was far more than that. His courage, vision, and grace positioned FDU for a brighter future.”
During his tenure as president, Frank Mertz balanced budgets, erased debt, launched a successful capital campaign, and oversaw more than $40 million in construction, including significant renovations to Dickinson Hall and the construction of the Roberta Chiaviello Ferguson and Thomas G. Ferguson Recreation Center, and the Martin F. Stadler, Patrick J. Zenner Hoffmann-La Roche Academic Building (the ZEN Building). He also led a strategic planning process that provided the foundation for success for years to come. Avaltroni emphasized that Frank’s true legacy was not bricks and mortar, but people: the students whose lives he and his wife, Gail W. Mertz, touched through mentorship, encouragement, and their enduring scholarship.
The ceremony then turned to family, as Frank’s daughter, Amy Norton, delivered heartfelt remarks on behalf of the Mertz family. Amy spoke of her father’s humility, his deep love for FDU, and the values of service and generosity that guided his leadership.
The Mertz family gathered in front of a portrait of Frank Mertz.
No tribute to Frank and Gail would be complete without hearing from the students who embody their vision. Isabella Ochoa, a current Mertz Scholar studying Cardiovascular Sonography, shared her moving story of how the scholarship made her dream of attending FDU possible.
“This scholarship is more than financial support. To me, it is a promise,” Ochoa said. “A promise to my parents, who sacrificed everything for me. A promise to myself, to work hard and give back. And a promise to honor Frank and Gail Mertz, who believed in students like me even before we walked through FDU’s doors.”
Since its establishment in 1999, the Francis J. and Gail W. Mertz Endowed Scholarship has provided more than $700,000 in support to over 200 students. For each scholar, it has meant encouragement, mentorship, and a reminder that they are part of a family that believes in their future.
The morning concluded with a procession to the newly dedicated Francis J. Mertz Presidential Suite, where a portrait of Frank was unveiled. The suite will now stand as both a tribute to his steadfast leadership and as a living symbol of the generosity he and Gail shared with generations of students.
President Avaltroni said, “May everyone who walks through these doors be inspired, as Frank was, to be caretakers of something larger than ourselves.”