Dear Friends of the Joseph James Morelli Legacy Foundation,
I am writing to share an important development in the evolution of our scholarship program, started over 11 years ago to honor the legacy of Joseph James Morelli. Through your generous and unwavering support, what began in 2014 as a dream, with the awarding of three scholarships to STEM students with dyslexia, has now grown into a nationally recognized foundation that has awarded nearly $900,000 in the form of 496 scholarships, impacting nearly 250 students in 44 states. Your commitment and support have changed the lives of our recipients and helped to build a legacy – a legacy of advocacy, opportunity, empowerment, and community. Our predominantly all-volunteer board and staff never imagined this impact and success.
So it is with mixed emotions that I am letting you know that this is our last year as the Joseph James Morelli Legacy Foundation in its current form. The future home of our program is Montana State University (MSU), Joseph’s alma mater. MSU has been very impressed by what we have accomplished, recognizes the needs of neurodiverse students, and wants to help pave the way forward, resource it, and enable this vision to grow and continue forever. As of December 31, 2025, we will be dissolving our current foundation and MSU will be endowing a scholarship for Joseph James Morelli Scholars, students pursuing an education in STEM, in perpetuity. To ensure the preservation of the existing foundation’s vision and legacy, we will continue to provide input into the MSU Morelli Scholarship Program design, application, and selection criteria. Our direct involvement will also ensure that each scholarship recipient will learn about Joseph, his story, and his legacy.
Our Joseph James Morelli Legacy Foundation board members, Morelli family members, donors, and students have been working alongside MSU to develop a program that recognizes our foundation’s successes and magnifies our future potential.
The Joseph James Morelli Scholars attending MSU will be part of MSU’s very selective Hilleman Scholars Program, a leadership program designed for students who demonstrate significant academic, leadership, and career potential, despite learning differences. MSU will provide financial and educational/mentoring support to scholarship recipients, similar to the Morelli Foundation, as well as many additional resources provided by the highly successful Hilleman Scholars Program, created in memory of Maurice Hilleman and under the leadership of Dr. Carina Beck, Vice Provost for student success and Director of the Hilleman Program. The Morelli Foundation and MSU are excited about the future and the positive impact this will have on our scholarship recipients.
All funds received by the Morelli Foundation through December 31, 2025, will continue to support our current scholarship recipients throughout the 2025/2026 academic year, including the opportunity to participate in the mentoring program. Donations made beginning in January 2026 will be used to support the Montana State University Foundation. More information to come.
Please visit this website for more information about Dr Carina Beck and the Hilleman Scholars Program https://www.montana.edu/aycss/about.html
Thank you again for your belief in our vision and for supporting this foundation.
Barbara Morelli Wirostko MD
On behalf of the Joseph James Morelli Legacy Foundation, the Morelli Family, and the Board of Directors
