Longtime patrons bequest $10.2 million

Fred Gowen

wo longtime supporters of the University, Helen "Bunny" Gowen and Fred Gowen, have left a $10.2 million gift as a final gesture of their generosity. The gift is being used to support academic initiatives in the College and will establish two professorships.

"Bunny and Fred Gowen were staunch supporters of the University for many, many decades," said President Jackson. "This bequest is the capstone of a lifetime of uncommonly generous support for our institution."

Fred Gowen, a former Rochesterian, was a 1932 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University who then earned his M.B.A. from Harvard University. At the time of his death, he was executive director and chairman of the investment policy committee of the Mackay-Shields Financial Corporation, a pension trust management firm in New York City. He was an inaugural member of the University's Trustees' Council, an advisory group, when it was formed in 1964. He then served as a trustee from 1968 until his death in 1978.

Helen Gowen

Following her husband's death, Helen Gowen continued to be actively involved with the College. She died in September 1999.

"Both of the Gowens held the University close to their hearts," said Vice President and General Secretary Emeritus Roger Lathan. "They stayed in close touch with us throughout their lives."

Their past contributions were recognized by the naming of the Gowen Room, a 99-seat auditorium in Wilson Commons, when the student center opened in 1976.

That same year, they endowed the Fred H. and Helen F. Gowen Fund in support of special art exhibits. In addition, subsequent gifts made possible the establishment in 1979 of the Fred H. Gowen Professorship in the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration. That chair has been held successively by Karl Brunner, Charles Plosser, and Jerold Warner.

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