Donor Stories

As an undergraduate chemistry major at Florida State College for Women (FSCW) in the early 1940s, Louise Cason worked in the dining hall and as a laboratory assistant in the Department of Physics to pay her tuition. Now, several decades later, following a highly successful career in pediatric medicine and wise financial investments, Cason has made a gift to her alma mater for half a million dollars.

Educational software creator and FSU psychology alum Bill Jenkins has honored his Ph.D. adviser by creating the R. Bruce Masterton Endowed Professorship. Masterton was a psychology professor at FSU from 1967 until his sudden death in 1996. The first recipient of the endowed chair is neuroscientist Rick Hyson.

In honor of Earth Day 2012, the Florida State University Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry hosted a public lecture by noted environmental chemist Joseph J. Bozell on Friday, April 13, in the new Chemical Sciences Laboratory, with a reception that followed. It was the first annual Katherine B. Hoffman Endowed Lecture in Environmental Chemistry.

Brooks Pettit didn’t attend FSU as a student, but during 20 years of retirement spent in Tallahassee, his life has been touched in many ways by the university. Pettit and his wife, Almena, a Tallahassee native, have given back to FSU over the years with many gifts of both time and money. And they’ve recently decided to do so again, this time by supporting the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience with a deferred gift of $122,000. 

Kitty Hoffman, a former FSU faculty member and dean—not to mention a standout student leader back when the university was named the Florida State College for Women (FSCW)—is still making good things happen at the university she has long loved. Thanks to a gift to the department where she taught for decades, the university will be able to bring an internationally renowned scientist to campus every spring, beginning in 2012, for a colloquium to coincide with Earth Day.

When he was an FSU undergraduate working toward a career in actuarial science, Courtney White spent at least $1,000 on textbooks and other materials to help prepare for a series of exams to be certified in his field. Now, nearly two decades later and well established as an actuary, he has decided to help defray some of those costs for current FSU students. To honor one of his former professors, White and his wife, Shari, have made a gift of $25,000 to establish the Bettye Anne Case Scholarship in Actuarial Science.

Earning an advanced degree is never easy on the wallet. But thanks to the generosity of Florida State University alumna Melissa Berger and her husband, Daniel Berger, getting a graduate degree in English has just gotten a little easier.

Microsoft Research has announced a $100,000 gift to Florida State University to help a Nobel laureate bring science into classrooms around the world by using the Internet. The Nobel laureate is Sir Harold Kroto, Florida State’s Francis Eppes Professor of Chemistry. “The gift is a great indicator that Microsoft aims to encourage the development of new approaches to education in the 21st century,” Kroto said.

Professor John Simons, a faculty member for decades in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics who died in January 2010, has made a gift of approximately $300,000 for student scholarships. "John’s generosity has created a very bright future for German studies at FSU,” said William Cloonan, department chair.

Angelos Langadas of Boca Raton, Fla., has given $100,000 to the Department of Classics for support of graduate students. Langadas,an engineer by training, was born in Greece, served in World War II, and then worked in the shipping industry.

Florida State alumna Ermine M. Owenby has made a gift to the College of Arts and Sciences so that female graduate students can attend professional conferences and present papers.

Carol Brennan, who received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Department of Mathematics and who serves on the Arts and Sciences Leadership Council, has made a provision in her estate plans for $89,000 to fund an endowment for general uses within the interdisciplinary program called FSU-Teach. She established the J.B. Brennan endowment in honor of her late father.

Florida State University alumni Stella and Dr. Raymond Cottrell have made a gift of $125,000 to establish an endowed professorship titled “The Stella and Raymond Cottrell Professorship Within the Department of Psychology,” said Assistant Dean Nancy Smilowitz. The recipient of this newly endowed professorship is Thomas Joiner, Distinguished Research Professor and the Bright-Burton Professor of Psychology.