This is pretty cool! An alumnus of Oregon State University who surrounded himself with books has surprised his alma mater by giving OSU’s Valley Library the vast majority of his estate. Franklin A. McEdward, a 1957 OSU electrical engineering graduate, left a total of $2.6 million to the university. His gift, designated primarily for OSU’s Valley Library, will fund a new professorship dedicated to undergraduate learning initiatives and a new reading room. A portion of his estate will also support the College of Engineering, naming a lounge in the Kelley Engineering Center. McEdward died in May 2007 at the age of 82. For the past 40 years, McEdward, who worked as a Boeing test engineer in Seattle, lived next door to Sam Rondos, whom he befriended and – unbeknownst to Rondos – named executor of his estate. McEdward’s gift, the second largest from an individual ever given to the OSU library, also took the OSU faculty and staff by surprise. “I was astounded,” said Karyle Butcher, the Valley Library director and holder of the Delpha and Donald Campbell University Librarian Endowed Chair. “The entire library staff is thrilled about this incredible generosity – both Frank McEdward’s gift and Sam Rondos’ work to ensure that his friend’s wishes be fulfilled here at Oregon State.” Almost half of the gift will establish the Franklin A. McEdward Endowed Professorship for Undergraduate Learning Initiatives. The inaugural holder will be Anne-Marie Deitering, an OSU assistant professor of library science, who is well-known for her research into how today’s students learn and access information.
http://www.examiner.com/a-1592460~Alum_gives_Oregon_State__2_6_million.h...
http://oregonstate.edu/