Turning Pain to Passion to Help Students Grow

Douglas E. Woosnam ’66 spent only two years at Moravian, but he has been lighting the way for our students for more than a decade.

From his support of veterans, military-connected students, and nursing students to his investment in the expansion of the Haupert Union Building (HUB), Woosnam is impacting our students, their future, and the next generation. However, his philanthropy is rooted in two difficult life experiences. The first was not completing his own college career.

A Rocky Start

Woosnam has racked up many accolades over 50 years in the home energy industry. He was named Man of the Year by the Delaware Valley Petroleum Society, served as president of the state association, and even served on the nation’s Homeland Security Advisory Council. But the well-respected industry leader struggled in school.

Woosnam enrolled at Moravian because it was one of four college options for which his father agreed to pay. When he arrived on campus, he knew he had found something special.

“My first night going to Moravian church for services was spiritual. I was surprised at how it made me feel,” recalls Woosnam. “That really was the start of me accepting this college.”

Woosnam majored in business and was a starting player on the golf team. But as an immature 17-year-old, he says, he was dramatically unprepared for the demands of a college education and did not return after his second year.

“Not being invited back was a life-changing experience,” says Woosnam. “That was the first time in my life I had really failed. That really hurt. As I’ve gotten older and wiser, I’ve recognized how valuable this circumstance was in creating me.”

Woosnam left Moravian just as the United States began conscripting young men for the Vietnam War. He joined a Navy reserve officer program, training as a parachute rigger, and received his orders to report to a base in California in the spring of 1968.

“We were a receiving base for wounded soldiers with catastrophic injuries brought back from Vietnam. Seeing those things firsthand scared the daylights out of me,” recalls Woosnam. “I stopped being a boy and very much became a man.”

When he had fulfilled his commitment to the Navy, Woosnam joined the family business, working with his father and brother. He purchased the company and held several senior management positions in the home energy industry. Still, he always remembered the many veterans he knew who succumbed to physical and mental injuries from their service.

“Becoming a civilian in the best of circumstances is a significant transition,” says Woosnam. He promoted the Vets to Tech program, created by his friend who served several combat tours to help veterans find jobs and ease their transition to civilian life. Woosnam hired veterans in the program to work for his company and other organizations with which he was involved.

Woosnam was also inspired to support veterans and military-connected students at Moravian, ranked 39th Best College for Veterans by U.S. News & World Report this year. “I was so impressed by the program and the commitment to every individual in the program,” says Woosnam.

He established the Douglas E. Woosnam ’66 Veterans Conference Room as part of the HUB expansion to create further opportunities for veterans, military-connected students, and their families to connect. “There are a lot of bright people that are coming out of the military. Anything that institutions like Moravian can do to support that group of students and families, the payback is infinite.”

A Tribute to Robin

Woosnam’s philanthropy to another area of Moravian—the nursing program—was motivated by a deeply painful, personal experience. His eldest daughter, Robin Elizabeth Haff, was killed in a car accident at age 46. Robin was a nurse administrator at St. Luke’s University Health Network, directing women’s health research at the Allentown campus.

Just before the 10th anniversary of her passing, Woosnam learned of Moravian’s long-standing partnership with St. Luke’s to staff the university’s health center. He and his family looked to enhance the partnership by naming a nurses’ station after Robin. In the expanded HUB, the new Robin Elizabeth Haff Nurses’ Station will provide a state-of-the-art space on the HUB’s first floor where students can seek confidential, quality medical care.

Woosnam also funded two scholarships, the Woosnam Family Annual Giving Scholarship and the Robin Elizabeth Haff Endowed Nursing Scholarship, to provide critical financial assistance to students to make their Moravian education more affordable.

A few months ago, Woosnam met the most recent recipients of the scholarships, which he described as a healing experience. “You never get over losing a child, but being able to share that person’s story with someone—it’s a very big deal for me,” says Woosnam. “These students love their life at Moravian. It was so obvious and apparent in their facial expressions, and not just their words, how meaningful their experience is and will be at Moravian. That made me feel so good.”

The experience also made him optimistic for the future of Moravian and its students. “Moravian is a school that’s being talked about,” Woosnam says. “That is not an accident, because so many people are experiencing Moravian in a positive way.”