Top Stories
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Bucknell raises more than $100 million in campaign
Bucknell University alumni, families, faculty, staff and friends have committed more than $100 million in gifts and pledges to Bucknell’s comprehensive campaign, the largest such fundraising effort in the University’s history, Bucknell President Brian C. Mitchell announced. [full story]
“On behalf of Bucknell, I thank all of our donors for their generosity and continued support,” President Mitchell said. “This accomplishment is particularly meaningful in the current economic climate, which has adversely affected fundraising throughout higher education.”
More than 26,000 individuals have contributed so far to the campaign, which launched in July 2007 and has a $400 million goal. More than $30 million of the campaign total has come from seven individual donors, six of whom are trustees or trustee emeriti of the University.
The campaign, which is expected to last another six or seven years, is helping to establish new endowments for professors to expand the University’s capacity to recruit and retain the best teacher-scholars in the nation; increase scholarships, fellowships and research opportunities; and support the development of new academic programs and centers to enhance Bucknell’s value as a learning community.
The campaign has already helped to create 12 fully funded new scholarships, establish three endowed faculty positions, and add new internships and research funding.
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Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel 2009 commencement speaker
Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel will deliver the commencement address during Bucknell’s 159th graduation ceremony in May. [full story]
Wiesel won the Nobel Peace prize in 1986 and is known for his leadership in fighting injustice and for his writings as a Holocaust survivor. He is the author of more than 50 books, including the world-renowned Night, a memoir of his experience in Nazi concentration camps.
“Bucknell is proud to be welcoming to the University one of the foremost advocates for humaneness, a leader and a writer who has provided vivid and potent testimony to the horrors of prejudice and the need for learning and remembering the lessons of history,” said President Brian C. Mitchell. Commencement takes place Sunday, May 17.
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Campus master plan enters conceptual phase
Taking its cue from the University’s first campus master plan developed in 1932 by Jens Larson, the new campus master plan has entered the conceptual phase. [full story]
The master plan embraces the campus’ historical architecture and natural topography while creating flexibility for the University’s needs as a residential learning community over the next 75 years.
The new Academic East Building would expand the science, mathematics and engineering departments, and add research space for those growing curriculums. The Academic West Building would enlarge the social sciences and house the School of Management. Changes proposed for Bertrand Library would “add needed academic space and integrate critical departments such as Teaching and Learning, the Writing Center and Service Learning,” said Dennis Hawley ’72, M’73, associate vice president for facilities at Bucknell.
The conceptual phase follows the University planning and study phase, which included a space inventory, needs assessment, extensive conversations and research with offices and individuals across campus, a 75-year land use plan and building concepts. A campus forum was held Jan. 23 to discuss elements related to downtown development. Other campus forums are planned to gather feedback on the campus master plan.
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Bucknell hosts three expert speakers
A women’s rights advocate, Nobel Peace Prize-winning scientist and network television executive agreed to share their expertise with University students. [full story]
Women’s rights advocate and author Ayaan Hirsi Ali will speak on March 31 in the Bucknell Forum, the University’s national speaker series. Ali was born in Somalia and raised in a traditional Muslim family. Escaping an arranged marriage, she fled to the Netherlands, where she was given asylum and, later, citizenship. Ali earned a master’s degree in political science and served as an elected member of the Dutch parliament. The Bucknell Forum is focusing on “Global Leadership: Questions for the 21st Century” through spring 2010. F.W. de Klerk launches the new series on Feb. 19.
Capping Bucknell’s Focus the Nation events, Nobel Peace Prize-winning climate scientist Ronald Stouffer will give his talk, “The Role of Oceans in Climate Change,” on Feb. 5. He was part of the group of scientists awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 along with former Vice President Al Gore. Stouffer is a senior research meteorologist and leader of the Climate and Ecology Group of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J.
Andy Hill, a network television executive, author and former UCLA student athlete, kicked off The Walling Speaker Series in Management with his Jan. 22 talk, “Secrets of Great Leadership: Lessons of John Wooden, ESPN’s Coach of the Century.” The School of Management’s first speaker series since it debuted in September 2008, The Walling Speaker Series in Management is funded by Mary Jo and Fitz Walling ’46, former director of admissions and planned giving at the University. A video of Hill’s talk is available for viewing at B-Link through the end of February.
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Biology professor Warren Abrahamson named AAAS Fellow
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recognized biology professor Warren Abrahamson for his distinguished contributions to the field of biology. He is the first Bucknell professor to receive this honor. [full story]
Abrahamson, who has studied the gall fly and its interaction with goldenrod for 36 years, has received more than $2 million from the National Science Foundation and other sources for his laboratory at Bucknell. He credited the University for supporting his research and creating an environment that invests in its staff and students. Being named an AAAS Fellow “crystallizes the significance of having endowed chairs and of supporting young faculty,” he said. “We have successfully competed with higher level research institutions for grants. The fact that this has been done with students is significant.”
Abrahamson became the only David Burpee Professor of Biology in 1983. He has published two books and 142 papers, nearly a third of which are co-authored by post-doctoral fellows, master’s-level and undergraduate students. This research and publishing experience, said Abrahamson, gives students exposure to “science in the real world.”
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Bucknell again ranks among leaders in Peace Corps volunteers
For the third year in a row, Bucknell earned a top 25 ranking on the annual list of “Top Peace Corps Volunteer Producing Colleges and Universities.” Bucknell shares the No. 20 spot with a number of institutions. [full story]
“With the knowledge and training acquired at Bucknell University, these Peace Corps volunteers volunteers are making a positive contribution to the lives of people in 76 countries,” said Don Tschetter, director of the Peace Corps in Washington, D.C.
Bucknellians have served in the Peace Corps since it was founded in 1961. To date, 240 Bucknell alumni have served as Peace Corps volunteers, including 15 who are active in the corps.
