Gifts of Note

Abells Support Marine Science

To honor their six children and provide a permanent gift to the Marine Science Institute, Joe and Mary Abell recently pledged $50,000 to establish the Abell Family Fund Endowment. The fund will provide tuition assistance to graduate students in the Department of Marine Science. Mary, advisory council member and the institute’s development director from 1997-2007, and Joe believe money spent for excellence in marine education and research is an investment in the future for their children and grandchildren.

Lloyds Give to Learning and Memory

It was a combination of their granddaughter’s arrival as a first-year student at the university and a provision of the federal tax law that inspired Mary Jo and Herb Lloyd to contribute a $25,000 excellence endowment to the Center for Learning and Memory (CLM). Mary Jo took advantage of law that allows someone over 70½-years-old to transfer money directly from an IRA to a charitable institution. She gave to the CLM in part because it connected to the volunteer work she’s done helping care for people with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

Johnston Helps Biology Students

Although Patti Johnston left the sciences behind for business when she graduated from the university in 1976 with a degree in biology, she never lost her affection for the college. Now an employee of ExxonMobil, Johnston is giving back—and taking advantage of the company’s 3:1 matching program—by establishing an endowment to support undergraduate and graduate students in the School of Biological Sciences who are doing health-related research. With a number of labs working on some of the world’s most devastating health problems, this endowment will have an impact on both the college’s students and the important research they’re doing.

Find more giving opportunities here.