October 15, 2025 |Education, News, Non-profits

Local businessman Gordon Hall leaves a legacy that will support Lynn students

Share

• F
• T
• L

From the Phillips Scholarship Fund: The Stephen Phillips Memorial Scholarship Fund is excited to announce a major expansion of The Gordon Hall III Family Foundation Scholarship Program beginning in the 2026-2027 school year. 

Launched in 2022 with a gift from Gordon and Taffy Knowlton Hall to support students from Lynn and Marblehead, the program will soon celebrate its first cohort of college graduates. Thanks to a transformational legacy gift from Gordon Hall III, dedicated specifically to Lynn, the scholarship will now open doors for many more local students. In the years ahead, this gift will allow the program to award approximately $500,000 annually.

This growth is especially meaningful because of Gordon’s longstanding ties to Lynn through his business, philanthropy, and enduring commitment to the community he cared so deeply about. It gave Gordon great joy to plan this donation, which will provide access to educational opportunities that will benefit Lynn students, their families, and the entire community.

Gordon, who passed away in 2022, was a long-time owner and operator of real estate in Lynn and surrounding communities. He was also involved in myriad charitable endeavors up and down Boston’s North Shore and throughout New England. The Gordon Hall III Family Foundation is only one of many ways that his generosity, spirit, and memory will live on.

Founded in 1991, the Stephen Phillips Memorial Scholarship Fund has granted over $80M in support of more than 5,000 students over the years. In 2015, Phillips began administering named scholarship programs for donor partners like the Gordon Hall III Family Foundation. The Phillips Scholarship program has a six-year graduation rate of 95%, which greatly exceeds the national average of 62%. After college, Phillips Alumni go on to have great impact, which often include serving the public good through volunteering or careers in education, health care, government, and more.

Applicants can access the scholarship application online starting in December 2025.

For more information, please visit the Phillips Scholarship website or contact Barbara Welles Iler, Executive Director of the Stephen Phillips Memorial Scholarship Fund, at bwiler@spscholars.org or 978-744-2111.