Chemist and Entrepreneur Tom D’Ambra ’78 Runs Counter to Type

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Supporting the Educational Communities that Supported Him

In October of 2001, D’Ambra and his wife, Connie, donated $1.3 million to the College of the Holy Cross to create the Thomas E. D’Ambra Endowed Professorship in Chemistry. In May of 2002, AMRI contributed $100,000 to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to set up the Albany Molecular Research-Arthur G. Schultz Memorial Fund, for the support of undergraduate research in synthetic organic chemistry. Their gift honors the former Rensselaer chemistry professor who died in January 2000 and whose lab space had been crucial to AMRI’s early survival. In November of last year they pledged $1 million in matching funds toward the construction of a new Life Sciences Building on the campus of the University at Albany. All told, the D’Ambras have donated or pledged approximately $9 million since 1999.

“Connie and I feel very fortunate for the success we’ve experienced,” D’Ambra says. “It has always been our intent to give back to the institutions that have helped both of us get to where we are today. We are grateful to be in a position to be able to do this. Holy Cross has always been very high on our list. I would not have had the opportunity to get to where I am today without the educational foundation and emphasis on values that Holy Cross provided. Our gift to Holy Cross is a small gesture to help the College continue its mission for succeeding generations. Locally, RPI and certain faculty there were very important in their support of Albany Molecular Research in its early formative stages. To a lesser extent, we got support during that time from the University at Albany. More recently, AMRI has developed a great relationship with the University at Albany as an anchor tenant at its east campus facilities.”

Holy Cross President, Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J., cites D’Ambra as “a wonderful example of the kind of graduate Holy Cross seeks to produce. We are especially pleased,” Fr. McFarland says, “that he has returned to support his alma mater financially and to testify to the value of his Holy Cross education. Tom D’Ambra has used an extraordinary combination of scientific expertise, business acumen, dedication and hard work to build a very successful business. Even more important, in his work and now in his philanthropy, he has shown a deep commitment to helping others.”

Family: The Other Side of the Equation

If balancing science with business has come relatively easily, balancing business with family becomes the next conundrum. While, from the outside, the “problem” of raising children in an atmosphere of plenty doesn’t seem that difficult, it raises its own set of questions and calls for its own set of guideposts.

“Financial success brings as many challenges as it does rewards,” D’Ambra says. “As a parent, you want to provide for your children based on what you can afford; yet it is easy to see the difference this environment creates over what we experienced growing up under different circumstances. Here is where I come back to Holy Cross and the values reinforced in its mission, which provide a solid foundation for raising children regardless of your economic situation. I have learned that as much as one would like to guide one’s child toward a particular path, it is not easy to do. If your child grows up to be a good person, then that to me is successful parenting.”

He also takes recourse to his own childhood experiences and to his parents—particularly his father—both as a parenting role model and, in some ways, as a business role model, as well.

“My father was a hero to me as well as a role model,” he says. “He was a first generation Italian-American. He fought in World War II, went to college afterward, and basically started with nothing. He started in an entry level job and worked his way up to a senior finance staff level position for the Olin Corporation. His work ethic, his values and his dedication and commitment were things that I admired and have followed. He and my mom gave up many things so that their children could experience opportunities they never had. Even though my dad passed away in 1989, I still think of him often.”

As D’Ambra continues to build AMRI, and as he and his wife continue to contemplate ways to pay back the various institutions which supported them and to be constructive members of their community, they are also involved in the ongoing adventures of their 15-year-old daughter, Agatha, a competitive horseback rider.

“Yes, our daughter Agatha has been riding for several years at a serious and competitive level,” D’Ambra relates. “She recently began competing on the national circuit, with the goal of competing at the Grand Prix and championship levels. She has the talent to do very well.”

What’s his 10-year plan for his family?

“I hope they are achieving everything they are dreaming about today,” he says. “But, if they are happy and healthy, what more can you ask for?”

Unger is a writer of fiction and nonfiction and a political commentator for NPR affiliate radio WFCR. He lives in Worcester.