The University of Bridgeport paid a special tribute Sunday afternoon to Sara and David E.A. Carson for their commitment to the university and the Bridgeport community. The salute was at UB’s traditional holiday celebration honoring major donors and friends at 4 p.m. at Waldemere, the president’s house on campus.
The Carsons have been involved in the Bridgeport community since the early 1980s when David was tapped to take over the leadership of People’s Bank. They fast committed themselves to community service. Sara was active in the arts and also became a popular and noted wedding adviser and justice of the peace. David engaged in business, civic and education concerns. All the while, he was involved with UB in chairing a hugely successful annual awards dinner.
The now retired People’s chairman took the bank public and build it into the major banking operation in the state. He also led People’s into investing in a headquarters and striking architectural statement in downtown Bridgeport that many credit as a major spur in the city’s revival. Under his leadership, People’s was a major institution helping pull the university out of its fiscal crisis in the late 1980s.
The Carsons have turned their special attention to UB this year in providing a campaign challenge to help the university build its annual fund. The Carsons are matching new or additional contributions by members of the UB Board of Associates, friends and community leaders, in an effort to strengthen UB’s fund raising as it steers a course of fiscal independence.
“The Carsons believe,” President Neil Albert Salonen said, “that annual fund support is vital to any nonprofit university or agency. As an independent college, we need that support from friends, the community and the alumni to be a vital force in the region.
“I promise you the Carson Challenge will be one of the best investments you can make in the future of UB, its strength as an academic institution, and its fiscal health,” Salonen said.
The theme for the Waldemere event is the Nutcracker fantasy. The decorations are being presented through the creativity and imagination of the Design faculty and students at the university. Guests, accompanied by Interior Design students in costumes they designed and constructed, will visit the Kingdom of Ice and Snow for a holiday buffet and the Kingdom of Sweets for desserts from around the world.
University of Bridgeport
Sunday, July 13, 2025