APPLETON, WIS. – Robert and Bonnie Buchanan always appreciated the quality of their Lawrence University education. They intend to ensure that future generations of students are able to access a similar opportunity.
The Appleton couple, both 1962 graduates of Lawrence, have established the Bonnie Glidden and Robert C. Buchanan Scholarship with a $1 million gift college officials announced today (5/13).
Beginning in the fall of 2010, the gift will provide four student scholarships annually of nearly $12,500 each. Preference will be given to students from the Fox Valley of Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula who have an interest in English or economics.
“The timing of this gift is incredible,” said Cal Husmann, vice president for development and alumni relations. “Given the current economic climate, this is testament to Lawrence’s standing in the community that the Buchanans continue to support our students in good as well as difficult times. This gift provides further proof of the importance of the college and our amazing students, who have demonstrated time and again that they are worthy of this kind of investment.”
The Buchanans, who met as students at Lawrence, have been long-time supporters of the college as well as active volunteers in the local community. Bob Buchanan, who graduated with a degree in economics, is a member of the board of directors of the Fox Valley Performing Arts Center and the Green Bay Packers. A 31-year member of Lawrence’s Board of Trustees, he served as chair of the board from 1984-1986.
After graduating from Lawrence, Bob spent three years in the U.S. Air Force on an ROTC commission before earning a Masters of Business Administration degree from Dartmouth College. He spent his career working in the paper industry, retiring in 2005 as chairman of Fox Valley Corporation, the parent company of Fox River Paper.
Bonnie Buchanan, who earned a degree in English from Lawrence and graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, has served on the board of directors of the Appleton Y.M.C.A., the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region and is a member of The Wednesday Club, a local literary society. She also was a director of the Lawrence Alumni Association from 1968-71.
This is the second major gift the Buchanans have made to Lawrence. In 1994, they established the Bonnie Glidden Buchanan Chair in English Literature, an endowed professorship currently held by Associate Professor Tim Spurgin.
“At a time when students and their parents are more concerned than ever about how to pay for a college education, gifts of this magnitude bolster our scholarship endowment, enabling us to continue attracting the best college students in the country,” Husmann added. “We are honored that Bob and Bonnie decided to invest in Lawrence in this most thoughtful fashion.”
This is the third gift of $1 million or more Lawrence has received in the past nine months for student scholarship support.
