Ruth Anne Gigliotti

Victoria D’Amore Zipko Scholarship

The Victoria D’Amore Zipko Scholarship was established in 2007 by SUNY Empire State College alumna, Ruth Anne Gigliotti in memory and honor of her mother and in support of Italian-American women returning to college. Victoria D’Amore Zipko was a true advocate and supporter of education for Italian American women. Ms. Zipko was a graduate of Proctor High School in Utica, N.Y. where she founded the Future Nurses of America Club. She was awarded a scholarship to the nursing program at Albany’s College of Saint Rose that she declined, to study at Utica’s St. Elizabeth School of Nursing, where she could save money by living at home. Ms. Zipko was a vital member of central New York’s health safety net providing school, public health and private duty nursing services for almost 50 years.