University of New Haven Alumna Establishes Scholarship to Honor Late Mother

Rowena Track ’87 M.S., a member of the University’s Board of Governors, believes the best way to thank her mother for instilling in her the importance of education was to create a scholarship in her name that supports deserving students.

April 8, 2019

By Renee Chmiel, Office of Marketing and Communications

Rowena Track ’87 M.S. wanted to do something meaningful to honor her late mother, Minerva Sakha Khuri, for instilling in her and her siblings the importance of getting a good education in math and science. To help ensure that current and future students at the University of New Haven have the same opportunities that she had, Track established the Minerva Sakha Khuri Endowed Scholarship in her mother’s memory, which will provide support to undergraduate female engineering students.

"I wanted to honor my mother’s qualities and characteristics, which were her selfless dedication to mentoring us, coaching us, and instilling in us a love for math and science," said Track. "She also taught us the value of a good education at a very young age and the commitment to family values, and she gave us unconditional love and support."

Education has always been important to Track, who is CEO and founder of iVitalité, a strategy and services advisory firm for boards CEOs and C-Suite executives, University’s Board of Governors. She and her husband, Dr. Elie Track, moved to the United States from Lebanon in the 1980s to pursue advanced education.

"I wanted to honor my mother’s qualities and characteristics, which were her selfless dedication to mentoring us, coaching us, and instilling in us a love for math and science."Rowena Track ’87 M.S.

Track, who previously served as vice president of digital marketing at Cigna Corporation, a Fortune 100 global health services organization, has worked in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, as well as in academia. She has held positions at several well-known companies, including Bayer and CitiBank. She continues to draw from what she learned as a student at the University.

"I think my University of New Haven education equipped me to be a good leader," she said. "The information that students gain in the classroom is practical, relevant, modern, and applicable, and I am pleased to support them as they pursue their dreams."