Giving to St. Lawrence comes in many forms, and Walter Hahn ’43 illustrates many of them well.  “I’ve always had a strong sense of obligation for the four-year scholarship that enabled me to come to St. Lawrence and change my life,” he says. 
Hahn came to America through Ellis Island as a young boy not knowing a word of English. A chemistry major and math minor, he received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1947 and began giving to St. Lawrence in 1952.  He became a vice president of Colgate Palmolive Company, retiring in 1981. 

Over the decades since he graduated, Hahn not only became a prominent businessman, but also a generous contributor to St. Lawrence, both in gifts and in volunteering. His service over the last half of century can be felt throughout the University’s history. He was president of the Alumni Council from 1964-1966. He was a trustee of St. Lawrence, and served on the search committee that chose the late Frank P. Piskor as president in 1969. 

Today, students reap the benefits of Hahn’s compassion in many ways, one of the most evident being the Hahn Conference Room in Johnson Hall of Science. Hahn says the room was “something I was particularly interested in because it encourages the bringing together of the building’s several disciplines: biology, chemistry, biochemistry, neuroscience and psychology.”

Another way in which Hahn continues to touch the lives of St. Lawrence students is through a scholarship fund he established in 2006, during St. Lawrence’s sesquicentennial year.  The Frank P. Piskor Scholarship, which he established "to honor the mind and spirit" of Piskor, a close friend, is awarded to students who graduate from high schools on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.