Endowing a Future

As a kid, John Brady (A'75) had a knack for art but never thought he'd have the chance to attend design school at a university like Carnegie Mellon.

"On paper, it was out of my league," said Brady.

But during his interview at Carnegie Mellon, a professor recognized Brady's raw talent and was willing to take a chance.

Being accepted was only half the battle. With his father earning a small salary working at a paper mill, affording it was another challenge. Were it not for the generosity of a Pittsburgh-area donor, Brady might have never had the opportunity.

After graduating from Carnegie Mellon, he went on to found Brady Communications, one of the most innovative marketing and design firms in Western Pennsylvania.

And now Brady's giving back. On behalf of Brady Communications, he's endowing a scholarship to help future design students at Carnegie Mellon.

"You know, we've been in business 27 years, fairly successful, 40 employees, big part of the design community. But it never even struck me that someone like myself and a firm this size could do something like that," explained Brady. "It was just the idea of yeah, you know what, you could do it, and wouldn't that be a wonderful way to give back? It was like a light went on."

He added, "Maybe it's a little bit dramatic, but I just hope there may be another student like myself who could end up at CMU."

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