Watsons donate $1 million to YSU to support new Student Success Center

YOUNGSTOWN

Frank and Norma Watson of Canfield have donated $1 million to Youngstown State University to support the development of a new Student Success Center on campus.

“On behalf of everyone here at YSU, we thank the Watsons for their continued generosity,” YSU President Jim Tressel said in a news conference on campus this morning.

“Their support over more than four decades has helped countless YSU students and has been a driving force in the university’s growth and development,” he added.

In recognition of the donation, the university will name its new student success center for the Watsons.

The new center will consolidate all services related to student retention and success on the third floor of Jones Hall and will include construction of a connector linking Jones Hall with Maag Library.

This is the latest in a series of gifts to the university by the Watsons, who received the YSU Friends of the University Award in 2007.

They also have made significant donations for YSU’s Stambaugh Stadium, the Scholarship Loge program, the Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center and the indoor training facility, called the Watson and Tressel Training Site.

The Watsons have two daughters, Janet Stephens and Ellen Tressel, and four grandchildren. Their son, David, is deceased.

Ellen Tressel, a YSU alumna, is married to Jim Tressel, university president.