‘Anyone can leave a legacy’
‘Anyone can leave a legacy’
How Joe Brum ’68 and Joe Hulbig ’96 cultivated a relationship that became a $10 million bequest from Chester Nuttall ’55
By John Chatfield ’19
Joseph P. Brum ’68, ’18Hon. knows everybody.
At least, that’s the impression he makes with his incredible gift of recall. His stories span more than six decades of Providence College history, from his enrollment on a half-tuition scholarship to his employment as PC’s first director of alumni affairs. He’s seen the tenure of five college presidents, the first admitted class of coed students, and an endowment that’s grown to more than $380 million. He’s helped secure some of the college’s largest charitable gifts and stewarded efforts like the Providence 2000 capital campaign. And in that time, he’s met thousands of Friar alumni and donors — in Rhode Island and across the country.
He’s one of the college’s first, and longest-serving, fundraisers. Hired in 1971, Brum was a self-described “one-armed paper hanger” whose alumni responsibilities spilled into development. Later, he worked with giving director William T. Nero ’55, ’77G to identify donors and solicit major gifts.
Fundraising looked different, then. On paper, it meant mingling with benefactors, recruiting volunteers, and traveling for events. Brum kept a stack of index cards on his desk to catalog alumni contacts, and each day, he’d pick a set to call personally. He’d organize phone-a-thons four nights a week in the function room of Schneider Arena, where he and his team of assistants and volunteers would make appeals to support the school. Brum supplied the pizza and beer.
“Back then, it was a lot of shaking hands and picking up the phone,” Brum said. “It’s how we raised our money.”
But in practice, it was about getting to know people. It was hearing their stories and gauging their interest in the future of the college. Putting names to faces was always part of the job. But for Brum, they were never just prospects — they were friendships in the making.
Chester T. “Chet” Nuttall ’55 was one of those friends. They met in 1975 when Brum traveled with Nero and College President Rev. Thomas R. Peterson, O.P. ’51, ’85Hon. on a fundraising trip to South Florida. On the return trip to Providence, they stopped in North Carolina to meet alumni in the Chapel Hill area. Mr. Nuttall was there.
“He was a modest, quiet, unassuming guy,” Brum said. “You’d never know just how successful he was.”
Brum and Mr. Nuttall had much in common. Both came from low-income, blue-collar upbringings. They shared a hometown in Fall River, Massachusetts, and were alums of Durfee High School. And like so many followers of college athletics, they were ardent basketball fans.
They hit it off instantly. In the conversations that followed, Brum learned how Mr. Nuttall majored in accountancy before becoming a CPA. He worked for a textile manufacturing company in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, as a controller until 1966, when the plant closed. He stayed in the area for two years as a personal accountant and financial guide, then relocated to Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
Brum also came to learn of Mr. Nuttall’s generosity — most of it conducted quietly, behind the scenes. As a controller and vice president for MG Global, Nuttall was the company’s first administrator to implement a retirement plan with matching contributions for employees. He supported local causes like the United Way and charities that benefitted Catholic schools.
Brum asked which areas he might consider supporting at Providence College. Mr. Nuttall had a few in mind.
One was athletics. A lifelong lover of sports and a devoted Friar fan, Nuttall followed every men’s basketball game. A few times a year, Brum would reach out.
“I’d mail him a big envelope filled with media guides and athletic programs,” Brum said. “I knew he was a huge fan, so I had a few of them autographed by Lenny Wilkens ’60, ’80Hon. and Lou Lamoriello ’63, ’01Hon. It’s how we stayed in touch.”
Faith was central to Mr. Nuttall’s life and philanthropy. An admirer of the college’s Dominican heritage and mission, he was particularly inspired by the Dominican priests who shaped his student experience. He had friendships with Rev. Edward Doyle, O.P. ’34 and Rev. Herman Damien Schneider, O.P. ’30, both of whom taught his classes.
But above all, Mr. Nuttall’s motivation was helping students in need — his way of paying the gift of education forward. He pledged an initial $50,000 to start a scholarship at PC for graduates of Durfee High School.
“Chet understood that the college is more than brick and mortar,” Brum said. “It was a place that changed his life, and he wanted to invest in its future — and students were the future.”
Brum stewarded Mr. Nuttall’s charity as he had from the beginning: through personal conversation. He visited as often as he could, and they regularly stayed in touch by phone. He invited Mr. Nuttall to celebrate class reunions and events on campus, but Mr. Nuttall’s health made travel difficult.
It never prevented his support from a distance, though. For his 50th class Reunion in 2005, Mr. Nuttall issued a matching challenge gift that funded renovations to the Aquinas Hall chapel, transforming it into the Center for Catholic and Dominican Studies. He also contributed to the fund that supported the construction of St. Dominic Chapel.
In recognition of his generosity, Brum offered Mr. Nuttall a named space on campus. “I said, ‘Chet, let me put your name on a plaque, or a stained-glass window or something,’” Brum recalled. Mr. Nuttall declined. He never sought credit for his giving.
After a long career spent building relationships and fostering alumni connections, Brum retired from full-time work in 2014. His contact cards, now digitized, passed to a new generation of fundraisers and gift officers — as did his relationship with Chet Nuttall.
Brum recommended Joe Hulbig ’96 as his successor in prospect management. “I told them, ‘You’ve got to get Joe Hulbig involved with Chet. He’ll be beside himself to meet a star hockey player.’”
Hulbig was a Friar hockey standout who played professionally for eight years. Drafted in the first round by the Edmonton Oilers in 1992, he played for the Boston Bruins before retiring at age 30. Following a brief stint in fundraising at St. Sebastian’s School in Needham, Massachusetts, Hulbig returned to Providence College in 2007 as a major gifts officer. He is now a principal gifts officer.
He likes the social aspect the most.
“I enjoy traveling and meeting people,” Hulbig said. “But what I really like is bringing people to the table and hearing their PC story. Joe Brum is the master at bringing people to the table.”
Entrusted with much of Brum’s portfolio, Hulbig found himself on the road. During a trip to North Carolina with PC athletics staff, he began his own acquaintance with Chet Nuttall. He leaned on mutual friends and Friar sports to break the ice. He would drive two and a half hours from Raleigh-Durham to Nuttall’s home in Wilkesboro, where conversation flowed.
“Even at his age, Chet was still the same smart, diligent CFO Joe Brum knew for years,” Hulbig recalled. “He’d have CNBC on, watching the stock ticker. And you could talk to him for hours and not realize the time had passed.”
Hulbig also met Mr. Nuttall’s life partner and caretaker, Laura Jeraldine “Jerri” Greene, who became his main point of contact through the latter chapter of Chet’s life as his health worsened. Working closely with Greene, Hulbig helped ensure that Mr. Nuttall’s charitable giving matched his intentions.
“My job is to develop relationships,” Hulbig said. “We invite constituents to identify what means the most to them at PC, and help align their philanthropic interests with the priorities of the college. It’s a special feeling when a donor finds that match and sees the impact of their gift.”
As Mr. Nuttall neared retirement, Brum had worked with him to arrange an estate gift to the college. Back then, it was estimated at $2 million. Hulbig knew that, through appreciation and earned interest over time, the amount had grown considerably. But the impact exceeded his expectations.
When Mr. Nuttall died on September 2, 2025, at age 90, he left a planned gift, now valued at $10 million, to Providence College — a testament to the foundation laid by Brum and the continued friendship of Hulbig. It will benefit athletics, mission and ministry, and financial aid: all causes that meant the most to him.
Joe Brum turns 80 this year. And although he’s taking a well-earned step back from his service to the college, he’s still the same personable friend-maker he’s always been. In his line of work, names and faces still matter. They always have.
It’s that same personal touch that guides Hulbig’s philosophy as a gift officer. It’s an invitation, rooted in the idea that generosity doesn’t need to be loud or large to be meaningful.
“Any amount can make a lasting impact,” Hulbig says. “And anyone can leave a legacy.”
To learn more about including the college in your estate plan, contact the Office of Planned Giving, plannedgiving@providence.edu.
