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Peter Compo ’81 Gives Back
Peter Compo ’81(Biology/Chemistry) fondly recalls his Purchase experience:
“Purchase was the right school at the right time: small classes, excellent opportunity for interaction with professors, and a cohort of outstanding students.”
Compo completed a PhD in Chemical Engineering at the City College of New York and then built a distinguished career at DuPont where he held several leadership roles, including as Director of DuPont Ventures and Corporate Integrated Business Planning. He’s a published composer and the author of the book The Emergent Approach to Strategy
Compo decided to give back and challenged fellow alumni to join him. After making a $25,000 gift last spring, he considered a second gift in the same amount but found a way to make an even greater impact. Through the end of 2025, he matched every donation to the School of Natural and Social Sciences, dollar-for-dollar, up to $25,000.
“With this matching grant, I hope to encourage alumni to connect with Natural Science, either to support the school financially or in other ways. While Purchase may be better known for the arts, I know that many alumni from Natural Science went on to do great things. Let’s use our success to help propel current and future students to do the same.”
Interested in making a challenge gift? Reach out for more information today.
Contact
Stephanie Hinkaty
Director of Development
stephanie.hinkaty@purchase.edu
914-251-6038
1976–2026: Fifty Years of Purchase Graduates
In May 1976, Purchase College handed diplomas to its first class of four-year graduates. Fifty years later, those pioneers—and the thousands who followed—have built careers that span impressive fields, from Broadway stages to research labs, from design studios to newsrooms, classrooms, boardrooms, and courtrooms.
As we approach this milestone anniversary in 2026, we’re planning a celebration that honors not only the class of ’76, but every graduate who’s carried the Purchase spirit into the world. We’ll gather for events, share stories, and reconnect with the people and places that shaped us.
But anniversaries aren’t just about looking back. Right now, a Purchase student is staying late in the studio, questioning whether they can make it work. Another is applying for an unpaid internship and wondering how they’ll cover rent. They’re walking the same path you did—and your engagement makes that path a little less lonely.
Whether you join us at a reunion event, mentor a current student, or make a gift to the scholarship fund, you’re proving what we’ve always known: Purchase graduates show up for each other.
The class of 1976 started something. Let’s show them what we’ve built together.