A True Bulldog:Revere Resident Graduates from Yale

Anthony D’Ambrosio accepted his degree from Yale University, received the Anthony M. Schulte Award for exemplary public service, and because of his exceptional leadership, he had the opportunity to meet Yale Law School

Anthony D’Ambrosio.

alumna Hillary Clinton, the Class Day speaker.

That was just a portion of D’Ambrosio’s unforgettable commencement weekend experience at Yale, the world-renowned Ivy League school in New Haven that has produced five U.S. Presidents: William Howard Taft, Gerald Ford, George Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.

Anthony D’Ambrosio’s four years at Yale were truly extraordinary. For example, he served as the student leader of Dwight Hall, the largest University public service organization in the United States. He received his bachelor of arts degree in history with honors and distinction.

Said Yale President Dr. Peter Salovey about D’Ambrosio: “Anthony is an exceptionally thoughtful leader who has the rare capability of envisioning a better future and the work ethic to bring it about. With an unending commitment to service and a depth of innate skills, there is no limit to the positive impact Anthony will continue to make on this world.”

The road to Yale began in Revere

Anthony D’Ambrosio is the son of former Revere School Committee member, attorney Gerry D’Ambrosio, and Michelle D’Ambrosio, and the grandson of Antonio and AntoniettaD’Ambrosio of Revere.

He began his education at the Paul Revere School and later attended the Shore Country Day School in Beverly. He then enrolled at Phillips Academy in Andover, one of the most prestigious prep schools in the country.

He excelled academically at Phillips, participated in community service organizations, and played for the school baseball team. He applied early decision to Yale and was accepted.

“At the time, I was looking for a school that had the best public service opportunities, that’s what I was really enthused about in high school, and Yale was a just great fit in that way for me,” said D’Ambrosio.

 

A family steeped in

public service

The Schulte Award was a crowning achievement for the 22-year-old senior, who said that public service was instilled in him at a young age.

“The entire family, my siblings (Gabby, a junior at Smith College, Andrew, a senior at Milton Academy, and Ava, a freshman at Milton Academy) too, have always been public service-oriented and perform a lot of public service,” said Anthony. “I know my mom and dad have been involved in public service for a long time.”

Gerry D’Ambrosio, a graduate of Boston University and Suffolk University Law School, served for eight years on the Revere School Committee and took great pride in being on the committee when Dr. Paul Dakin, his former headmaster at Dom Savio High School, was appointed superintendent of Revere schools.

 

An awesome experience at Yale

D’Ambrosio describes his college experience as being, “amazing, the best four years of my life.”

“At Yale, I had the awesome opportunity to lead Dwight Hall, which is the center of public service and social justice on campus,” said Ambrosio. “It was an opportunity that I really wouldn’t have had anywhere else.”

Dwight Hall has an endowment of $8 million and an annual operating budget of $1.1 million. It oversees 3,500 student-members and 100 constituent organizations. The student-run organization interacts with the city of New Haven.

“Sometimes I would work 30-40 hours a week in the organization,” said D’Ambrosio, who was elected coordinator of Dwight Hall by his peers.

D’Ambrosio took part in many of the school’s storied traditions such as attending all four Harvard-Yale football games [known simply as “The Game”] during his college years.

“And we beat Harvard in the last two,” said D’Ambrosio proudly.

He said he will always cherish his years at Yale.

“The mix of academics, the tremendous faculty and administrators, the incredible peers that I had the opportunity to work with, the public service endeavors – it was an experience that I will always cherish and that I’m incredibly privileged to have had.”

 

Proud parents take notice

Gerry and Michelle D’Ambrosio looked on proudly at their son’s impressive Yale commencement exercises. The four years at the historic university, which Gerry describes as “an architectural marvel”, flew by, but it was a rewarding journey for the entire family.

“I felt so proud as a dad at commencement about what Anthony accomplished,” said Gerry. “Apart from the academic honors and distinction, he won one of the major awards [Schulte Award] at commencement. So I was really proud of that. It was really cool. Because of his leadership on campus, Anthony actually met with Hillary Clinton.”

Anthony spoke about his meeting with the former Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, and First Lady, stating that “It was amazing. She [Clinton] is obviously an exemplary public servant and having tried to do public service over the last four years myself, it was just an unbelievable experience to hear her speak and to meet her at Yale.”

 

On to Cambridge

University

With his impeccable academic credentials and achievements in public service, Anthony was accepted to Cambridge University in England, where he will focus on comparative constitutional law in an accelerated degree program and receive a master’s in Philosophy.

“Eventually I would like to attend law school,” said D’Ambrosio. “I’d love to stay around here for law school. Boston is my home. Revere is my home. If I could be here and attend school, that would be ideal.”

Looking back on his collegiate experience, D’Ambrosio recalled a valuable, internship as an aide to Chelsea City Manager Tom Ambrosio, the former Revere mayor. D’Ambrosio spent two summers learning about city government from Ambrosino, a fellow Ivy Leaguer who attended Harvard Law School.

“Mr. Ambrosino is just incredible so brilliant, and one of the most dedicated people I’ve ever met,” said D’Ambrosio. “I learned so much from that experience. I got to see how public service and city government interact with the issues and problems that citizens have in real life. You’re not dealing with macro-policy, you’re dealing with actual issues that arise in cities.”

Though he enjoys politics, D’Ambrosio is not sure whether he will enter the political arena himself one day.

“I definitely want to do public service and I want to be based in Boston,” he said.

Whatever career path that Anthony D’Ambrosio embarks upon, it’s clear that his four years at Yale have set an excellent foundation for his future.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.