James E. Simonetti Memorial Scholarship Fund

James Edward Simonetti dedicated his life to serving others, spending the last 25 years of his career with the Carnegie Mellon University Police Department. Prior to CMU, Jim was a police officer for the East Deer Township and McKees Rocks municipal police departments. As a Senior Police Officer, he served as a mentor and coached dozens of CMU officers. Jim always believed that the role of the CMU police was to keep the students safe so they could go on to do great things. Jim was presented with a Heroism Award for outstanding courage when he helped rescue an unconscious CMU student from a fire scene, saving her life. Jim’s life was tragically cut short in the line of duty when he contracted COVID-19 and away passed from complications on October 13, 2021. In his spare time, Jim loved spending time with his friends and family and enjoyed cooking, astronomy, unusual beers and listening to Iron Maiden. In his honor, the Simonetti family has created this scholarship fund as a way of remembering the impact he had on countless lives.