Every now and then, something happens that changes the direction of your life.
For retired business executive Philip Orso, it was a trip to Central and South America to see some of the Catholic missions he had supported, including those of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Nicaragua and Colombia.
Orso’s faith guided his philanthropy. His curiosity and interest in technology and innovation drove his professional career. This included the sale of Atex, a company he developed, to Eastman Kodak, and to a new partnership with The Catholic University of America in Washington.
After a Mass in Honduras, Orso met sisters from the Missionaries of Charity. He helped arrange a roof repair for their orphanage and, one day, bought a birthday cake for one of the children. He was struck by the sisters, who refused to eat any, telling him that their vow of poverty meant they only ate rice and beans.
“I never saw people so at peace and joyful with what they were doing. And it actually shocked me. I had never been happy, not like that, regardless of all my achievements,” Orso said.
On that same trip, the tech pioneer started volunteering as an interpreter for doctors and dentists who provided pro bono medical care for residents of remote jungle villages.
“I was seeing things that no one should ever see,” Orso said of the extreme poverty.
After a few weeks, he left for a planned luxury vacation in Aruba. When he arrived at his hotel suite, he experienced a profound spiritual transformation. He “could not reconcile what I saw in the jungle” with the luxury of the room.
That realization and a bout with a parasitic infection he picked up during his volunteer work led Orso to sell his new luxury car, 8,000-square-foot home, and to sell or give away many of his possessions.
“I got rid of everything, and I decided to live my life simply. This was the hand of God,” he said.
The passion for helping others and an interest in artificial intelligence — AI — led to the next turn in his life: a desire to provide new opportunities for financially disadvantaged students.
He contacted Catholic U. in fall 2024 and spoke with university President Peter Kilpatrick, a chemical engineer who holds multiple patents.
“Our conversation quickly explored our shared reverence for the power of human ingenuity, a sense of awe at the unparalleled speed of technological innovation, and our common concern that innovation be harnessed exclusively toward the good of human flourishing,” Kilpatrick said.
This shared interest led to the Philip F. Orso Scholarship Program, established through a $4.5 million bequest to provide students with financial need the opportunity to pursue a degree in AI, computer science, engineering or nursing at Catholic U.
A new AI program launches in fall 2025 and will offer both undergraduate and master’s degrees.
Orso, who plans to get to know and mentor scholarship recipients, said the program is the first step in his collaboration with Catholic U.
The university is committed to academic research grounded “in an ethical framework, built on faith and reason, and positioned to shape evolving public debate and emerging industry policies,” as Provost Aaron Dominguez said.
“One thing that strikes me about Catholic (University) is how collaborative people are,” Orso said. “It’s very open. You came together at this university with an entrepreneurial spirit in all of these different departments, and this is a done deal. I’m super excited. We’ve got some big things to do.”
