Year-long Celebration Recognizes 50 Years of Philanthropy

The University of Montana Foundation will celebrate its founding throughout this year with a special logo, "50 Years of Philanthropy," and several activities.

The insignia designed especially for the anniversary was introduced in the Foundation's 2000 Annual Report and will be used throughout the year on Foundation materials. "Inclusion of the Main Hall tower in the design symbolizes the Foundation's purpose: our service to the University in raising, management and distribution of private gifts," said Penny Peabody, chair of the UM Foundation Board of Trustees. The year is dedicated to drawing attention to academic and campus enhancements made possible by private support and to what can yet be accomplished through the generosity of donors, Peabody said.

The actual birthday of the Foundation was June 16, 1951, the date when a temporary Board of Directors, convened by then-President Carl McFarland, met to elect officers and adopt bylaws.

Four months later, October 12, was the first official membership meeting. That first meeting anniversary will coincide with Homecoming 2001 and will be the celebration year's highlight. Homecoming also marks the 100th anniversary of the UM Alumni Association. Joint activities to celebrate the two milestones are planned. Peabody said, "The history of the Foundation and the Alumni Association are closely linked so we look forward to having a joint celebration."

Original funding for the UM Foundation came from UM Alumni Association dues-paying members.

Among activities will be a reunion on October 10 of men and women who have served on the board during the past fifty years, the fall meeting of the Board of Trustees and the annual President's Club Dinner. The President's Club Dinner has been moved back to the Thursday night of Homecoming, October 11, so it will occur on the eve of the first annual meeting.

Bill Bouchee is Latest Bucklew Award Winner

William L. Bouchee '63 received the Neil S. Bucklew Presidential Service Award during Charter Day ceremonies February 15.

Bouchee is the fourteenth person to receive the award, which recognizes a Montanan for noteworthy efforts to foster understanding among the community and state and UM. The award entitles its recipient to name a University department to award a $1,000 scholarship in the Bucklew Award winner's name. Bouchee selected the School of Business Administration, from which he earned a degree in 1963.

Bouchee began his banking career at Missoula's First National Bank following his UM graduation and is now president of First Security Bank. He and his wife, the former Phyllis Lindgren '63, and the bank are long-time members of the Foundation's President's Club for donors of $1,000 annually.

Bouchee's involvement with the community and the University parallel his career in Missoula, making him eminently qualified to relay the University's strengths and needs to the community as well as represent the community to UM decision makers. He's coached youth sports and raised funds for sports programs and facilities, including the YMCA building and addition and the Missoula County High School Stadium. At the same time, he's worked on the Excellence Fund's Missoula Business Drive as a volunteer almost since its inception in 1978 and was a driving force behind securing funds from Montana supporters of Grizzly sports to complete the John Hoyt Office Complex at Adams Center. He's served on the Grizzly Athletic Association board, the Business School Advisory Board and is a life member of the UM Alumni Association.

UM People Create Endowments to Benefit Campus Causes They Know Best

Members of the UM family — and their family members — are ensuring permanent bonds with the University.

Over the past decade, dozens of endowed scholarships and funds to meet campus needs have been established or enhanced by University professors and staff members — retired and active — and on their behalf by spouses, children and siblings.

President George Dennison who, with his wife, Jane, established faculty and staff awards and a scholarship for Native American students, said, "Even students who never had the opportunity to study under a particular professor can feel that individual's influence through a memorial scholarship or departmental Opportunity Fund that enhances the educational opportunities a named fund provides." He encourages others to follow the example of those who have already established funds to acknowledge the contributions made by persons long associated with UM.

Many are funds established personally by a UM employee. News that sciences assistant librarian Irene Evers, the University's staff member with longest tenure, had given her entire estate to the institution where she worked for thirty-eight years was a surprise to the community. Her bequest supports scholarships in the School of Forestry and added to the Irene Evers Library Endowment, established by friends and colleagues to mark her 80th birthday.

While most funds established were committed as deferred gifts, as Evers' was, some faculty and staff members have given current assets to help meet departmental needs. During the last capital campaign, geology Professor Robert Weidman and his wife, Eleanor, created a scholarship for a third- or fourth-year geology student with an interest in classical geology or field studies. Recently, retired geography Professor Darshan Kang and his wife, Jeety, did the same. They established a scholarship for students in his department.

From his years on campus, Kang had seen firsthand what private support could do to enhance educational opportunities for UM students and wanted to help future students. Law Professor Greg Munro echoes those sentiments. "We recognized a need," he said. The contribution he and his wife, Lynn, an accounting professor, made helps attract American Indian students to the School of Law. Their gifts enhance the Linda Ward Williams Law Scholarship for Native American students.

Other funds memorialize or honor a UM employee. Although many donors have contributed to funds in honor of long-time athletic trainer, Naseby Rhinehart, his oldest son Pete, '58, on behalf of his brother and sisters, created the Naseby and Evelyn Rhinehart Scholarship for African-American students through the gift of a life-insurance policy. The Rhineharts prefer that the recipients be students who have a commitment to public service, a value their parents instilled in the young Rhineharts.

The Flightner Scholarship was established in 2000 for Spanish majors who wish to participate in foreign study programs. It was announced at the retirement party of College of Arts and Sciences Dean Jim Flightner. Spearheading the drive to create the scholarship were individuals who had worked with Flightner as professors or staff members in the college.

Still other UM employees choose to establish a fund honoring someone else. Retired mathematics Professor Charles Bryan, his wife Cynthia, and his brother and sister-in-law established a scholarship in honor of their parents because, as Charles Bryan said at the time it was created, "they helped a lot of students — including me — get an education." Charles and John Bryan, both highly educated, had distinguished careers in scientific fields, Charles in education and John in industry.

Spouses, recognizing the important role UM played in their lives, often choose a memorial award to preserve a campus tie. Doreen Shafizadeh's endowment for the Wood Chemistry Laboratory resulted in its being renamed for her husband, Fred, the director from its creation in 1966 until his death in 1984. Gary Nygaard, retired professor of health and human performance, established a scholarship for his wife, Pat, who had been a radiological technologist at the Student Health Services. The scholarship goes to students in health-related fields.

And siblings, too, have created funds. Gracing the southeast entrance to the Liberal Arts Building is the King Memorial Rose Garden, a gift for English Professor Walter King from his sister, brother and sister-in-law. Known primarily as a scholarly authority on Shakespeare, King also was a great admirer of roses.

The funds are as varied as the people they honor and the donors themselves: scholarships, opportunity funds, lecture series; in honor of the donor personally, or as a memorial to a beloved professor and family member. They may be funded now or with a planned gift that comes to UM some time in the future.

There's no end to the possibilities; no end to the positive effects, either.