Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day and Mara O’Day commit $10 million for first-generation Georgetown students

By Helena Thorncroft

WASHINGTON — Gilead Sciences Chairman and CEO Daniel O’Day and his wife, Mara O’Day, have committed $10 million to Georgetown University to create a scholarship that will let first-generation undergraduates attend free of cost, Georgetown President Eduardo M. Peñalver announced on Oct. 20.

O’Day is a 1986 graduate of Georgetown’s College of Arts & Sciences and a member of the university’s Board of Directors, according to Peñalver’s message. Georgetown’s advancement office says he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at Georgetown and an MBA at Columbia University.

What the gift does

The O’Day Family Scholarship Fund is designed to cover the full cost of attendance for first-generation students who receive it, and the first O’Day Scholar entered Georgetown this fall, the university said. The Hoya, Georgetown’s student newspaper, reported that the fund will cover the annual cost of attendance for two first-generation, low-income undergraduates, beginning in the 2026-27 academic year.

“At a time when a college education feels out of reach for too many families, the O’Day Family Scholarship makes it possible for more outstanding students to say ‘yes’ to Georgetown,” Peñalver said in the university’s announcement.

O’Day said the gift honors his father, John O’Day, who he said grew up in rural Montana and was the first in his family to go to college, at Gonzaga University. “When a student becomes the first in their family to graduate from college, the impact does not stop with one life,” O’Day said in the announcement. “It can change the trajectory of an entire family for a generation or more.”

Mara O’Day, who has served as a court-appointed special advocate for children in foster care, said in the same release that the prospect of debt “can feel like one barrier too many” for many young people she has worked with.

The price of a Georgetown degree

The gift arrives as Georgetown’s sticker price has crossed a symbolic line. Undergraduate tuition rose 4.75% to $74,520 for 2026-27, the fifth consecutive annual increase, and Georgetown is among the first U.S. universities with an annual price of attendance above $100,000, The Hoya reported. The paper said the university expected to devote $278 million to financial aid this academic year.

Peñalver, inaugurated Oct. 9, has made affordability a central theme. “The reality of the $100,000 annual price of attendance calls for deep reflection about how Georgetown manages the costs of delivering a world-class education,” he said at the inauguration, according to The Hoya.

Student reaction quoted by the paper was welcoming but measured. “Here’s the truth: two is a very, very small number,” Roan Bedoian, who chairs the student association’s financial accessibility committee, told The Hoya, while adding that two more students graduating without heavy debt “is fantastic.”

Georgetown says first-generation and low-income students in its support programs graduate at a rate of 93%, citing its Community Scholars Program, founded in 1968, and the Georgetown Scholars Program, founded in 2004, in the announcement.

The day job

The gift comes days before O’Day faces investors: Gilead will release third-quarter 2026 results after the market closes on Thursday, Oct. 29, with a webcast at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time, the company announced. Georgetown’s profile describes O’Day’s work at Gilead as leading research, development and delivery of medicines for viral diseases, cancer and inflammatory diseases.

The gift is a personal commitment from the O’Day family; neither announcement describes any role for Gilead.

The Inquisitor is seeking comment from Gilead Sciences, Georgetown University’s Office of Advancement and the Office of the President. This story will be updated with any response.

Photo: Healy Hall, Georgetown University (cropped). Warren LeMay, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.