HOME SITE: In recognition of their family’s
nearly 80-year role in helping guide the University, the president’s
residence on Mt. Hope Avenue has been renamed in honor of G. Robert Witmer
Sr. ’26, and his wife, Marian C. Witmer. Their son, G. Robert Witmer
Jr. ’59, chairman of the Board of Trustees, and his wife, Nancy,
were the chief benefactors in a drive to renovate the historic, 100-year-old
house and add 2,400 square feet of space. The new space will be used by
President Seligman and his wife, Friederike, to host University events
and entertain University groups of faculty, students, and guests.
Witmer says the project represents an effort to enhance connections
between the University and the community, two areas with which he and
his family have been actively involved. “To have the house named
after my parents is so appropriate because it’s from them that I
learned my love of the University and of the community,” Witmer
says.
Built in 1906 on the grounds of the Ellwanger and Barry Nursery Estate,
the house was designed by J. Foster Warner, the architect of the George
Eastman House. Peter Barry, a former mayor of Rochester, lived in the
house until 1973, when the University purchased it.
Since 1922, when the senior Witmer enrolled at Rochester, a total of
13 members of the Witmer family have attended the University.
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