The Fred L. Emerson Foundation of Auburn, N.Y., is providing the grant over afour-year period. In making the award, the foundation stipulated that thecollege's trustees contribute $330,000 to the project and create, over threeyears, a $1.5 million endowment to establish a Presidential Fund for FacultyInnovation.
"The Fred L. Emerson Foundation has once again taken a leadership role at animportant point in Hamilton's recent history," said President Eugene M. Tobin."This gift will enable Hamilton to create a curriculum for the 21st century andcontinue a set of faculty development activities that will distinguish thecollege nationally."
The Emerson grant provides for the appointment of a senior member of theHamilton faculty to serve for three years as a director for curriculardevelopment. This person will oversee fundamental curricular review efforts andfaculty development activities.
A series of faculty workshops designed to improve the teaching of writing andspeaking are also funded by the grant, as is a concerted effort to expandopportunities for faculty-student collaborations. Such collaborations, Tobinsays, enhance academic rigor and provide a public forum for students topractice the skills they have learned in the classroom. An assessment plan tocontinually improve the program and to ensure that Hamilton graduates haveachieved written and oral proficiencies is also provided for in the Emersongrant.
"We are deeply indebted to the Emerson Foundation, which has been anenormously valued supporter of Hamilton and its programs for nearly 30 years,"Tobin said. In addition to the rare book room in the Burke Library, theEmerson Lobby in the Athletic Center and the Emerson Gallery, Tobin said thefoundation has created an endowment that each year provides scholarship supportfor deserving Hamilton students. "The impact of this latest gift will beextraordinary in helping us to achieve our lofty goals for Hamilton," thepresident added.
The Fred L. Emerson Foundation is a philanthropic organization founded in 1932by the late president of Dunn and McCarthy Inc., a manufacturer of women'sshoes in Auburn, N.Y. It supports private colleges and universities, healthprograms, and community and social welfare projects.
Hamilton is a highly selective, residential college that offers its 1,650students a rigorous liberal arts curriculum. It is the third oldest college inNew York State and is named in honor of U.S. statesman Alexander Hamilton, acharter trustee of the college's predecessor, the Hamilton-Oneida Academy.
