News >

Tony LeVecchio ’68 ’69MBA is a passionate ambassador for Rollins. The winner of the 2024 Alumni Service Award, LeVecchio has spent countless hours advocating on behalf of the College, organizing functions and speaking to potential high school recruits. But the path wasn’t always so clear.

“I got there by accident,” he says with a chuckle. “This fella I played baseball with in high school was always talking about Rollins, and he said this is where anyone would want to go to school. And that’s how I wound up there.”

LeVecchio recalls not knowing anyone when he walked on campus as a freshman in 1964, but he says that quickly changed thanks to the small class sizes and close relationships with professors.

“I pretty much knew that my major would be something in business or finance,” he says. “My advisor was Charles Welsh, who became the first dean of the Crummer Graduate School of Business. He charted the path, and I followed.”

With courses in basic accounting and economics, LeVecchio gained the foundation he needed to start a career as well as the real-world experience that would set him apart.

“We focused on real-life situations,” he says. “Most of the professors had a real business career. You really got exposure to things you were going to do in the future. They were focused not on theory but on preparing you to work in a business environment.”

His defining moments at Rollins came through unique experiences such as interning as a financial analyst in New York City and participating in a transformative trip to Europe.

“We met with IBM and the World Bank,” he says. “We traveled to Geneva and then Basel in Switzerland. Most of us had never been to Europe before, so we gained some incredible experiences. Our curriculum and approach were ahead of their time. I’m not sure how many others got that opportunity.”

After graduating, LeVecchio’s trajectory continued to be influenced by the connections he’d made at Rollins. He laughs remembering a conversation he had with Welsh upon graduating and interviewing for his first position: “I told him I was going to take a job at General Electric, and he said, ‘Well, that would be my second choice.’”

Thanks to that advice, LeVecchio took a sales role at an up-and-coming printer company called Xerox, where he built a resume in sales, marketing, and finance. During his tenure at Xerox—and long after—he kept up with Welsh as well as other professors he’d forged relationships with at Rollins.

Maybe that’s why—when he found himself in Dallas in 1983—it was an easy decision to become a local Rollins ambassador for alumni and potential students.

“I tried to participate in anything the College asked me to do,” he says. “It was my time to give back and say thank you.”

Alongside his impressive career—which has included stints on the boards of numerous public and private companies and eventually led to his current role as the president and owner of a financial consultancy—LeVecchio became a dedicated diplomat for Rollins. Over several decades, he helped build a community in the Dallas area with strong ties to campus, serving at times on the alumni board and later on the College’s board of trustees.

In recent years, LeVecchio has been happy to see the evolution of the Rollins student body, noting the diversity and well-roundedness he sees compared to his own time.

“I’m really impressed by the caliber of today’s students,” he says. “I’d like to think I helped bring some new students to Rollins.”

For decades now, LeVecchio has been the one always talking about Rollins, just as his baseball friend did back in high school.

“I have such positive memories of Rollins,” he says. “Of course, everyone’s definition of success is different, but I’ve been married to my wife, Donna, who I met while at Rollins, for 51 years. We have two great kids and four wonderful grandchildren. I’m very blessed with my life, and that all goes back to the foundation I received at Rollins.”

• Alumni News |
• People