“To me, endowment support means supporting Bates for the long term. The endowment is the bedrock foundation, furthering our faculty, staff and students who make Bates the special place that it is today, and will be for future generations.”<\/p>\n John Gillespie ’80, P’13, P’18<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n By filling gaps in funding for programs such as community-based learning, climate change education, entrepreneurial initiatives, diverse faculty recruitment, hiring, mental health resources, and campus-wide digital innovation, unrestricted endowments empower Bates to uphold its mission and adapt to the evolving needs of its community. Unrestricted endowments allow the college to be responsive to emerging needs, pressing matters, or timely opportunities as they arise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Given by John R. Hester ’75 through an estate gift, the fund is a permanent, unrestricted endowment fund for the general purposes of the college.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n Sonja Pieck is the Clark A. Griffith Professor of Environmental Studies. She is a human geographer who looks at how various forms of nature, such as cultural landscapes or biodiversity, are produced and how they become meaningful to different groups of people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The endowed professorship that Pieck holds was created in 1996 by an alumnus with his own deep awareness of how nature creates meaning. Clark Griffith \u201953 graduated from Bates with a degree in chemistry and returned to his family\u2019s cranberry business in Carver, Mass., to become the third generation to run the farm. Under Griffith, the family cranberry bogs, which date to the 1860s, became part of the Ocean Spray cooperative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI love this land,\u201d he said in 1995. \u201cI grew up outdoors. My play area was the woods, swamps, and ponds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The endowment created by Clark Griffith supports the overall Program in Environmental Studies, ensuring that generations of future Bobcats will be able to cultivate a similar appreciation for the environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBates provides me the support, as a scholar and teacher, to explore multifaceted, synergistic approaches on which to base effective and just solutions,\u201d Pieck says. \u201cIn the classroom, I hope to deepen students\u2019 curiosity and empathy and cultivate in them a critical politics of care. It is an honor to help them become more engaged people and changemakers of their generation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Endowed scholarship funds are a vital part of Bates College\u2019s need-based financial aid program, ensuring that all admitted students from all backgrounds receive aid that meets their demonstrated financial need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Along with annual gifts from the Bates Fund, endowed scholarship funds help make a Bates education accessible to talented students from all backgrounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the thousands of Bates students who have been supported by scholarship endowments over the years is Ed Zuis \u201924, who came to Bates from the rural town of Monmouth, Maine. During his time at Bates, he received the Gracie Hall ’46 and John W. Stone Scholarship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He graduated with a double major in biological chemistry and mathematics, earning honors in biochemistry and membership in Phi Beta Kappa. He is now a scientist with Eurofins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gracie Hall Stone \u201949, who died in 2017, created the fund through an estate gift. In 2003 when asked about her bequest intention, she said, “It’s a lot of fun to get enthused about what you can only imagine.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Bates, Stone majored in chemistry, graduating in three years with top grades. After Bates, she achieved professional prominence during a 35-year career at Uniroyal, helping to invent new products to support agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n Named for her and her husband, John W. Stone, the fund supports financial aid for Maine students with preference for a student interested in pursuing a major in the sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Planned gifts and bequests have been one of the largest sources of endowment support for Bates. They make a lasting impact supporting our students and programs far into the future while also meeting donors\u2019 financial goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the early 1960s, Stuart Field \u201965 joined a small cadre of Bates students mentored by Professor of Chemistry Walter Lawrance to conduct summertime water testing and pollution mitigation along the Androscoggin River from Rumford to Lewiston and Auburn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The formative experience put Field on the path toward a career \u2014 and inspired him to give back to Bates through a planned gift that will fund a scholarship for Bates science students from Maine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Field\u2019s career in the paper industry, one that would last more than 30 years, put his chemistry major to good use as manager of environmental health and safety at International Paper\u2019s mill in Corinth, N.Y.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A longtime annual donor to the Bates Fund, Field realized that an estate gift, through a Charitable Remainder Unitrust, could benefit his family while eventually supporting Bates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy daughter has needs that are unique, and this kind of gift will provide an income stream to her,\u201d Field explained. \u201cIt\u2019s a really good fit between that part of my personal planning and my desire to do something for Bates.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Stuart\u2019s gift will establish an endowed scholarship fund for Bates students in the sciences with a preference for students from Maine. His commitment to community and rigorous STEM education will have a lasting legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Endowed support for the Bates Center for Purposeful Work empowers students to connect their academic experiences with meaningful career paths, fostering skills, resilience, and a sense of direction that align with their values and aspirations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Chris G. Barbin ’93 Entrepreneurship Fund supports programs like Bobcat Ventures, practitioner-taught courses during Short Term, speaker series, student internships, and participation in off-campus conferences and workshops related to entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Established by Chris G. Barbin ’93, a member of the Bates Board of Trustees, this fund supports the Purposeful Work program with a preference for curricular and co-curricular experiences that build entrepreneurial expertise for students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ethan Chan \u201825 of Westborough, Mass., and Josephine Lao \u201825 of Changsha, China, had Purposeful Work internships in Boston with the firm Savills, one of the world’s leading real estate service providers, working with Nick Beati \u201820, an associate director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe really saw this opportunity to bolster our team with passionate, young researchers,\u201d Beati says. \u201cEthan and Josephine immersed themselves quickly, taking full advantage of every opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n For Chan and Lao, the internship wasn\u2019t just about analyzing data, but about stepping into the fast-paced world of strategy and decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Lao, the experience was transformative. She compared her journey to watching a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. \u201cAs a first-year at Bates, I was like an audience member, observing and trying to understand the game,\u201d she says. \u201cNow, I feel like a player \u2014 I\u2019m in it, actively contributing and making decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chan echoed that sentiment, saying the experience strengthened his confidence in his abilities. \u201cI\u2019ve learned to advocate for myself, recognize my strengths, and think more broadly about my future,\u201d he says. He gained career skills, and more: “seeing the bigger picture of where I want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Endowed support for Bates professors in their research and scholarly explorations not only contributes to academic excellence and global knowledge but benefits Bates students, who gain direct experience with scholars at the forefront of their fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bates Faculty Development Fund is the umbrella term for the various endowed funds that support scholarship, creative production, or other professional development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a typical year, the Bates Faculty Development Fund awards more than $200,000 to nearly 50 faculty members.<\/p>\n\n\n\nUnrestricted Endowed Funds<\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"Painters](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/endowment\/files\/2025\/01\/240522_Lane_Hall_9653-400x320.webp\")
Unrestricted endowed funds give Bates the flexibility to address emerging and ongoing priorities, ensuring the college can respond dynamically to opportunities and challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nEndowment in action: John R. Hester ’75 Endowment Fund<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nEndowed Professorships<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
‘Support as a Scholar and Teacher’<\/h4>\n\n\n
![\"Sonja](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/endowment\/files\/2025\/01\/240926_Sonja_Pieck_Portrait_0140-400x267.webp\")
Endowment in action: Clark A. Griffith Professorship in Environmental Studies<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nEndowed Scholarships<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
‘What You Can Only Imagine’<\/h4>\n\n\n
![\"It\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/endowment\/files\/2025\/01\/2405_Mount_David_Summit_1626-400x267.webp\")
![\"elderly](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/endowment\/files\/2025\/01\/Gracie_D42U4036.webp\")
Endowment in action: Gracie Hall ’46 and John W. Stone Scholarship Fund<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nEstate Giving<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Legacy Gift for STEM Education<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nPurposeful Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Entrepreneurial Expertise<\/h4>\n\n\n
![\"two](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/04\/04012023_Bobcat_Ventures_Pitch_Competition_KW_0009_EDIT-1-2.webp\")
From Spectators to Players<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Endowment in action: The Chris G. Barbin ’93 Entrepreneurship Fund<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nEndowed Research Funds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Rural Focus <\/h4>\n\n\n
![\"professor](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2025\/01\/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_0739A-1.webp\")
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