Student Research Endowment to Honor Sullivan Presidency

$4 Million Goal Announced

As President Daniel F. Sullivan and his wife, Ann, conclude their leadership of St. Lawrence upon their retirement in 2009, the University has established an opportunity for Laurentians to express their appreciation for the Sullivans by supporting a fund at St. Lawrence in the Sullivan name. 

“Currently there are named endowment funds totaling approximately $1.2 million dedicated to support summer student research on campus,” says Trustee Chair Emeritus Larry Winston ’60, who was board chair during seven years of the Sullivan presidency. “These endowments provide $60,000 in annual income, fully supporting the projects of approximately 10 students. A goal of the Daniel F. ’65 and Ann H. Sullivan Endowment for Student-Faculty Research will be to substantially expand collaborative student-faculty research opportunities on campus, with permanent funding for as many as 50 students.” The aim is to have the first Sullivan Fellows on campus conducting research during summer 2009. 

A committee of trustees has been formed to oversee the fundraising effort for this very special initiative.  It is co-chaired by Dekkers Davidson ’78, P’06 and Janet Langlois ’71, and includes Board Chair Don Rose ’64, Shel Johnson ’68, Karen Diesl Bruett ’66 and Trustee Emeritus Mike Ranger ’80.

Funding for student-faculty research, normally conducted in the summer, has been an important priority of the Sullivan presidency.  Davidson and Langlois explain, “The University Fellows Program started in 2000 and it has been a goal of President Sullivan’s to create, in his words, ‘an outstanding community of learners on campus in the summer pushing their limits and forging the ideal undergraduate mentor/apprentice relationship...to leverage the scholarship of our faculty to the greatest extent.’”

Davidson elaborates, “Support of this fund will perpetuate a core element of Dan’s ‘engaged learning’ philosophy of close faculty-student interaction (teaching, mentoring and learning together), which accentuates the most powerful elements of a small, residential liberal arts college.” Meanwhile, Langlois cites three reasons why Laurentians should participate in the initiative: “To honor the wonderful Sullivan legacy at St. Lawrence; to express gratitude for their tireless efforts on behalf of SLU over the past dozen years; and to help fund a project that is very important to Dan and to the University.”

The target for this fund is $4,000,000; as of July 31, 2008, $2,200,000 had been pledged by trustees, who have committed to 100% participation.  Members of the Alumni Council also wish to express their pride and gratitude to the Sullivans, and at their June meeting voted for 100% participation in the fund as well.

All gifts to the Sullivan Endowment for Summer Research will be counted in Momentum
St. Lawrence.  Donors have through June 30, 2011, to fulfill pledges. For more information, contact Andy Whittier, director of major gifts, at 315-229-5511 or awhittier@stlawu.edu.

How You Can Help Honor the Sullivans Through the Annual Fund

Annual Fund gifts can honor President and Mrs. Sullivan as they approach their retirement in June 2009. “Annual Fund support is critical to the University,” says Vice President for University Advancement Michael P. Archibald. “We invite donors to honor the Sullivans with their Annual Fund gift in 2008-09.  Additionally, the Sullivan endowment fund may be supported above and beyond one’s Annual Fund donation.” All donors who make a gift in honor of the Sullivans will be recognized in the 2008-09 Report of Appreciation.