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Washington and Lee University

Washington and Lee University

Recruit, Retain and Develop Exceptionally Qualified Faculty and Staff Committed to the Values of the University

An important goal of this campaign is to ensure that Washington and Lee attracts, retains, and develops the very best faculty - scholars of exceptional attainment who make teaching their priority. The University also is committed to supporting its non-teaching staff-those dedicated individuals who strengthen our community by sharing the values that characterize Washington and Lee. Through support of faculty and staff you help ensure that these living links to the University's past, to the traditions and values that distinguish this place, can continue to convey these traditions and values to future generations of students.

  • Well-Rounded Graduates
    Tom Wall '80, P'14, '15
    Thomas R. Wall IV '80 believes that some of life's best lessons are learned on the playing field. A member of W&L's golf team during the late 1970s, he has always appreciated the physical education component of W&L's academic program.
  • Gift Establishes New W&L Professorship to Honor Pamela H. Simpson
    Washington and Lee University is honoring longtime art history professor Pamela H. Simpson (1946-2011) with a professorship in her name. An anonymous gift from a current parent established the professorship, providing the University with the opportunity to recognize a distinguished individual important to the life and history of the institution.
  • A Special Bond
    Bill Pritchard '80, P'13
    Bill Pritchard, chairman and CEO of lndigo Minerals, an oil and natural gas company in Houston, started his career after graduation as a geologist with Marathon Oil Company. He felt fortunate to go directly to work in the area that he majored in. "I use my geology training every day," he says. "How many people can say they use what they majored in on a daily basis?
  • A Sense of Community
    Shelly and Tom Millhiser '81L, P'11L
    Shelly and Tom Millhiser established the Rochelle and Thomas McN. Millhiser '81 L Professor of Practice to support the Law School's third-year program in the area of estate and individual tax planning. "I'm a proponent of the third-year program," says Tom Millhiser, father of Neil Millhiser '11L. "So many students come out of law school without any practical experience."
  • Bringing in the Best
    Dr. Herbert Lubs Jr. '50
    Dr. Herbert Lubs Jr. '50, a winner last fall of the Distinguished Alumnus Award, has given $50,000 to support salaries for science faculty that will be eventually combined with a bequest to establish the Lubs Professorship in Science.
  • Returning Gratitude
    Kimberly T. Duchossois P'08
    Kimberly T. Duchossois gave a $1 million endowment gift to support competitive salaries for the Universiry's coaches and to name the athletic director's position in honor of Michael F. Walsh, former athletic director at W&L and now special assistant to the vice president for Universiry advancement.
  • The Quality of the Teachers
    Harold J. Quinn Jr. '54
    "When we get together for reunions we enjoy the view of the Colonnade, but it is the teachers and the courses they taught that we talk about. These teachers affected us for life."
  • Keeping the Bargain
    William Donald Bain Jr. '49L
    Back when he was a law student, Don Bain, of Spartanburg, S.C., made a pact with his then wife-to-be, Pat Thomas, who was a student at Hollins. "One day, when we were driving back to Spartanburg together, we decided that if we had the ability to be generous to Hollins and Washington and Lee, we would do so," Bain recalls.
  • Washington and Lee Surpasses $33 Million Challenge
    Lenfest Challenge Creates New Professorships and Endowment Funds
    Washington and Lee University has successfully completed a fund-raising challenge from alumnus Gerry Lenfest to match his April 2007 pledge of $33 million. Lenfest, a member of the undergraduate Class of 1953 and Law Class of 1955, focused the Lenfest Challenge on improving compensation for the University's faculty, especially in comparison with peer institutions. At the end of the challenge period on Dec. 31, 2010, gifts and commitments totaled $33,669,363.06, resulting in new professorships and other endowment funds.
  • W&L Professor Receives 300K Grant to Study Health Exchanges
    Washington and Lee Law Professor Timothy S. Jost, one of the nation's leading health law experts, has received a nearly $300,000 grant from the Commonwealth Fund to research implementation issues involved with the recently passed health care reform legislation.
  • W&L Receives National Grant for Faculty Career Flexibility
    Washington and Lee University has been awarded a $200,000 accelerator grant as part of the Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Faculty Career Flexibility.
  • Building A Great Faculty Takes More Than Salaries
    Lenfest’s New $17M Gift Offers a Different Kind of Support
    Each year, the fight for the best faculty members grows tougher. Top colleges and universities compete for exactly the type of professors W&L is known for--superb teachers who always have time for students, and who also are masters in their fields.
  • Couple’s Estate Gift Creates Professorship for University
    Stanley '31 and Ella "Nikki" Waxberg's significant estate gift to W&L was recently realized upon Nikki's death, in 2007. Stanley had preceded her in death by a decade, after a long and successful career as a New York City attorney.
  • W&L Rector Leads Off With a Bang
    Makes $5M Gift on First Day of Campaign
    W&L's new fundraising campaign may be in its quiet phase, but Rector Don Childress '70 made sure it started on the right note. On July 1, 2008, the first official day of Honor Our Past, Build Our Future: The Campaign for Washington and Lee, Childress made a $5 million gift.
  • Couple is First to Take Advantage of Lenfest’s Special Professorship Offer
    When Hap Stein '74 thinks back on classes he took in college, three people come to mind: Professors Bill Jenks, Marshall Jarrett and Harry Porter.
  • A Gift From the Heart
    One Family's Way of Saying Thanks
    Philanthropy has many motivations. Few motivations are as compelling, personal or poignant, however, as the one behind a recent gift to W&L from the Rudolph family of Fort Wayne, Ind.
  • Widow Carries on Husband's Philanthropy
    "I really wanted to do this for Harry," said Mary Jayne Redenbaugh, widow of Harry Redenbaugh '39. The gift wasn't Redenbaugh's first to W&L.
  • Alumnus & Parent Marshal Foundation Support for W&L
    Peter Strohm '68 and Valter Must P'08 are law partners in their private practice, but they are also partners in marshaling foundation support for W&L.
  • Remembering a Teammate
    When Rob Lindsey '76 died unexpectedly in 2007, his former W&L lacrosse teammate, Ted Bauer '74, sought a way to honor him.
  • Alumnus and Wife Leave Estate Gift Supporting Faculty
    Dr. John T. Herwick '36, and his wife, Mary, spent years planning a major estate gift to W&L. They took care to support faculty in the sciences, which were of great interest to Herwick.
  • Alumnus Decides It's Time to Give Back
    When it comes to philanthropy, Bob Sadler '67 describes himself as "not a bricks-and-mortar guy." Sadler, of Buffalo, N.Y., deeply appreciates his Washington and Lee education. A few years ago, he decided it was time to reconnect with W&L and give something back.
  • Parents Invest in What's Most Important
    For Bill and Mary Urquhart, it was an easy decision to create the Abigail Grigsby Urquhart '11 Term Professorship. They have always believed in supporting their children's schools and immediately saw the value of the Lenfest Challenge.
  • Parents Support the Professors Behind Williams Investment Society
    Not many 18- to 22-year-olds have the opportunity to manage a million dollars in investments. But that's exactly what 38 talented W&L students do. They are members of the Williams Investment Society (WIS), a student organization that manages a segment of W&L's endowment in equity securities.