Margaret Wright Steele ’80
Business Entrepreneur, Philanthropist and Campaign Co-Chair
For Margaret Steele '80, At Home & In the World—The Campaign for Arcadia University is "a wonderful opportunity to give back to the University that has given me so much."
Graduating with honors with a degree in Business Administration, Steele secured her degree while building a successful business. "I found the help I needed in the very supportive professors at Beaver," she recalls. Co-owner of Perez-Steele Galleries, she and her late husband, Frank, started the prosperous business venture that holds an exclusive license to design limited-edition artist renderings of every Baseball Hall of Fame member for avid collectors. "When I was at Beaver College, I was working full-time. The Business professors organized my classes so it was easy for me to complete my degree. It worked."
Steele's commitment to giving back to the University is exceptional. She has held many Board of Trustees leadership positions at Arcadia, including Vice Chair of the Board, Chair of the Trustees and Honors Committee, and Chair of the Campaign Planning Committee that identified the University's top priorities for fund raising and recruited its Campaign leadership.
"Given Peggy's ability to organize and inspire volunteers to give their best, there was no question that it was essential to have her continued involvement in leading Arcadia's Campaign," says Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Nick G. Costa, who has led campaigns for several organizations that have raised from $20 million to more than $100 million. "Peggy is a natural. As one of four Co-Chairs, we are better able to reach out to alumni from both the East and West coasts, as well as near the University's main campus," says Costa.
In addition to her leadership at Arcadia, she is focused on helping youth to succeed, as seen in her board position at Chestnut Hill Academy, and in establishing the Frank and Peggy Steele Leadership Intern Program at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.
