About OUR FOUNDER

From its origins in the late 1980’s, the Thomas A. Rodgers, Jr. Family Foundation has had an academic impact on students’ lives.

The Foundation has contributed greatly to two scholarship funds at Bristol Community College in Fall River, Mass.: the Globe Manufacturing Company Scholarship and the Ella A. Rodgers Memorial Scholarship. Both scholarships were created by Thomas and the latter was in conjunction with his brother, William, in honor of their late mother, who was a staunch proponent of the benefits of education.

Born in Fall River in 1914, Thomas grew up in the Maplewood section of the city. He attended the University of Rhode Island and Providence College. While working for the Firestone tire and rubber company in the early 1940’s, Thomas developed a unique process for extruding fine rubber threads.

In 1947, after departing Firestone, Thomas founded the Globe Manufacturing Company, of which he was the president and CEO, in Fall River. Under Thomas’s direction, Globe patented and marketed two types of Spandex, “Glospan” and “Cleerspan,” for use by a wide array of apparel manufacturers.

In his travels around the world, Thomas grew an appreciation for the need of education, one that his mother held dearly. Thomas founded his first scholarship program, the Globe Manufacturing Scholarship, at Bristol Community College in 1988. In 1990, he and his brother William established a second scholarship at Bristol Community College, the Ella A. Rodgers Scholarship Fund, in honor of their mother, Ella. Both scholarships have helped more than 260 students in their academic careers at the community college.

In the 1960’s Thomas took on a new endeavor as developer of Goat Island in Newport, R.I. Thomas developed a marina, condominiums and a resort hotel on the roughly 20-acre island that today is a tourist destination for visitors to Newport.

Thomas served on the board of directors for FIRSTFED AMERICA BANCORP, INC. and St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, as well as Salve Regina University in Newport. Thomas was a great benefactor to Salve Regina, and The Rodgers Recreation Center (bottom) is named in his honor. He also received the Benefactor Award of the National Council of Resources Development while he served as a member of the Bristol Community College Foundation.

As Thomas transitioned away from Globe Manufacturing his son, Thomas, III, took over running the company and grew it to one the three largest producers of natural latex thread worldwide. Thomas, III continued his father’s philanthropy through the foundation. In particular, Thomas, III’s donation of one-million dollars to Salve Regina University in 2014 led to the creation of a graduate program in nursing.

Today, Thomas, Jr.’s grandchildren, Sarah and Thomas, IV, manage the foundation along with Robert F. Stoico, the retired Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of FIRSTFED AMERICA BANCORP, INC. and a longtime friend of the Rodgers family.

FOUNDATION HIGHLIGHTS

1988
Founded the Globe Manufacturing Company Scholarship at Bristol Community College

1990
Founded the Ella A. Rodgers Scholarship at Bristol Community College

2012
Rodgers Family Recreation Center opened at Salve Regina University

2014
Nursing Graduate Program created at Salve Regina University