Priscilla Messenger, Philanthropic Leader, Awarded Honorary Degree

Priscilla Messenger is a philanthropic leader and valued member of the WPI family. Together with her late husband, George Messenger Jr. ’51, D. Hon. ’09, she is helping to educate the innovators and leaders of the future.

Priscilla grew up in Grafton, Mass., and attended Ursinus College for more than two years, pausing her college education to have her first child. She and George moved to Pennsylvania after he graduated from WPI with a degree in physics. The couple later moved to California, when George was hired by Northrop, and Priscilla dedicated herself to raising their three children at their dream home in Corona Del Mar.

Priscilla has lived a full and adventurous life. She has traveled the world, visiting most of the United States; skiing in Europe, Latin America, and New Zealand; and accompanying George to numerous engineering conferences in Asia, Europe, and North America. She continues to enjoy visiting with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Priscilla, along with George, has also long valued education. George’s WPI education led to his career as a physicist with a long line of impressive discoveries. For Priscilla, placing a premium on education meant finishing her college degree after her children were grown and the couple moved to Las Vegas. 

Because they’ve always understood that education is the first door to opportunity—and that many need some help opening that door—Priscilla and George have generously supported several major WPI initiatives over the years. Their legacy at WPI is solidified in the George and Priscilla Messenger Endowed Scholarship and the naming of Messenger Residence Hall in 2018 in honor of their generous lifelong giving.

A WPI Journal article about the Messengers notes that they have never sought anything more from their philanthropy than the opportunity to give back to the institution that gave them so much. Priscilla’s generous support will continue to have a positive impact on students for many future generations. In recognition of her profound impact on WPI as a philanthropic leader, WPI is pleased to confer on Priscilla Messenger the degree of Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa.