A List
10/23/04

SLU TRUSTEE BEGINS NEXT CAMPAIGN WITH $5 MILLION GIFT

CANTON – St. Lawrence University has begun the early phase of its next comprehensive 
fund-raising campaign, with a $5 million pledge from Trustee R. Sheldon Johnson and 
his wife, Virginia ("Peachy"), of Norwalk, Connecticut, among its first major gifts.
      Johnson, a member of the Class of 1968, was named chair of the campaign 
during the fall meeting of the Board, which concluded Saturday, October 23. 
      "We are doubly blessed with the good news of Shel and Peachy Johnson's generosity 
and Shel's agreement to be campaign chair," said University President Daniel F. 
Sullivan. "First, all of us who work to raise funds for the University know how critical 
it is to have respected, energetic leadership of a campaign. Working with Shel over the 
next months to establish the goals and priorities of the campaign will be a terrific 
experience, as he has the insight, the integrity and the initiative to help us refine 
our vision and identify the ways we'll achieve it. Second, Shel and Peachy have shown 
true leadership by pledging one of the largest gifts ever received by St. Lawrence. 
Their decision, we know, will inspire others to join our effort."
	The Johnsons' gift has been designated for the University's endowment, which 
is expected to be among the top priorities in the campaign. Resources available as a 
result of the gift will support two faculty positions, to be called the R. Sheldon '68 
and Virginia Johnson Professorship in Economics and the R. Sheldon '68 and Virginia 
Johnson Professorship in the Sciences. In addition, their gift will support a staff 
position, the R. Sheldon '68 and Virginia Johnson Director of Counseling Services. 
The Johnsons also established the R. Sheldon '68 and Virginia Johnson Scholarship 
fund at St. Lawrence.
	"As we became more active with St. Lawrence, we saw the University has almost 
every key ingredient for competitiveness and success," R. Sheldon "Shel" Johnson 
commented. "It has a great leadership team in the members of the Board of Trustees, 
the president and the senior administration; it has top faculty who are devoted to 
students and to their work; it has a campus that's second to none; its students are 
bright and involved. But St. Lawrence needs one more ingredient to take it to the 
next level and that ingredient is a stronger endowment. So that's how my wife and 
I decided we could make a difference."
	R. Sheldon Johnson, who has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 
2003, is managing director of Morgan Stanley & Company, Inc. His responsibilities 
include global and institutional equity distribution; marketing and client relationship 
management. Johnson's degree from St. Lawrence is in economics; he also holds a 
master of business administration degree from New York University. He has been an 
active volunteer for St. Lawrence, in fund-raising and career advising.

-30-

Back To News Releases
Back to St. Lawrence Homepage