{"id":99237,"date":"2016-02-08T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2016-02-08T14:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=99237"},"modified":"2024-07-08T13:46:20","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T17:46:20","slug":"19-million-gift-commitments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2016\/02\/08\/19-million-gift-commitments\/","title":{"rendered":"Bates announces gifts of $19 million to create six new endowed professorships and launch the college\u2019s new digital and computational studies program"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"During<\/a>

During the $19 million gift announcement celebration on campus Friday afternoon, Michael Bonney \u201980, chair of the Bates College Board of Trustees, talks about the $10 million gift, the largest in the college’s history, that he and his wife, Alison Grott Bonney \u201980, have made to Bates. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

Seven Bates College families have made gift commitments totaling $19 million to create six new endowed professorships \u2014 three to launch the college\u2019s new Program in Digital and Computational Studies, and three to fund new faculty positions in chemistry, economics, and neuroscience.<\/p>\n

The $19 million includes a commitment from Michael Bonney \u201980, chair of the Bates College Board of Trustees, and his wife, Alison Grott Bonney \u201980, of $10 million \u2014 the largest single gift in the history of Bates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am enormously grateful for the generosity of this group of families who have chosen to support our most important priority \u2014 the academic program \u2014 in the most substantial way possible, through gifts to the endowment,\u201d said Bates President Clayton Spencer in her remarks at a festive campus announcement celebration Friday.<\/p>\n

\"Bates<\/a>

Bates President Clayton Spencer leads a toast at the conclusion of the $19 million gift announcement celebration on campus Friday afternoon. In her remarks, she said, “I am enormously grateful for the generosity of this group of families who have chosen to support our most important priority \u2014 the academic program \u2014 in the most substantial way possible, through gifts to the endowment.” (Josh Kuckens\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI am thrilled that we can move forward immediately to launch the program in digital and computational studies, and very pleased that this new venture will happen in the context of bringing strength to existing disciplines as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

“I am enthusiastic about how Bates is working to establish itself as a model for the 21st-century liberal arts college.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cHigher education is in the midst of significant change,\u201d Michael Bonney said, \u201cand I am enthusiastic about how Bates is working to establish itself as a model for the 21st-century liberal arts college: committed to core educational principles on the one hand, and leading innovation on the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHumanity faces daunting challenges,\u201d he added, \u201cbut solutions will come as long as we equip our best young minds with the rigor, imagination, and drive to tackle the world\u2019s hardest problems. Bates has been meeting this challenge for generations \u2014 including multiple generations in my own family \u2014 and I have never been more optimistic about the future of the college.”<\/p>\n

Bonney said that he “thanks the families who have joined Alison and me by making these extraordinary gifts, and I hope that this will inspire others to consider what is possible to achieve through their philanthropy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a>

From left, Weston Bonney ’50; his wife, Elaine Bonney; their daughter-in-law Alison Grott Bonney ’80; and their son, Michael Bonney ’80. Starting with Elaine’s father, a member of the Class of 1927, and continuing to Michael and Alison’s children, four generations of their family have attended Bates. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

The six new endowed chairs represent the first expansion of the faculty in more than a decade. This growth will occur as the college maintains its current enrollment of approximately 1,750 students and its student-faculty ratio of 10-to-1 \u2014 reflecting Bates\u2019 commitment to delivering a rigorous education centered on deep, sustained interactions among students and faculty.<\/p>\n

The Bonney family\u2019s unprecedented generosity is joined by gift commitments from donors George Colony and Ann Colony P\u201912, P\u201917 of Concord, Mass.; Darrell Crate \u201989 of Hamilton, Mass.; J. Blair Frank \u201989 and Tena Fishman Frank \u201989 of Pacific Palisades, Calif.; and three anonymous families.<\/p>\n