See also:
A letter to alumni from Ernie Gale and Young Dawkins

Reunion 2000 set two new records, one for attendance and one for fund raising. More than 800 people reconnected with former classmates as classes from 1935 to 1976 returned to campus. And the Class of 1950, led by reunion chair Roger Wood, raised the bar for 50th- reunion giving with $3,569,444 in gifts and pledges donated in honor of the occasion.

Early summer weather brought sunshine and warm temperatures for the Parade of Classes and reunion golf tournament, which was won by the team of Walter Jackson '59, Gregg Sanborn '66, '77G, Dick Umile '72 and Rob Hare. Alumni enjoyed a range of seminars, class banquets and a special social at the New England Center, featuring entertainment by The Shaw Brothers -- UNH grads Rick and Ron Shaw, both members of the Class of 1963.

The record-breaking 50th-reunion gift includes two major endowed scholarship funds set up by individuals, an endowment for the Center for International Education, trusts to benefit scholarship within the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences and funds dedicated to the recent renovation of Dimond Library. Additionally, outright gifts from classmates formed an endowment of $309,000. Income from the endowment will provide permanent funding for faculty development and student support.

Diana Koski, UNH Foundation vice president, sees an increase in planned-gift instruments in reunion-class fund drives. "Classmates are beginning to understand that they can make a greater gift to the university than they thought possible and reap long-term benefits for themselves and their heirs as well," she says.

New Board Members

Lynne Curtis Butcher '69 of San Francisco, Calif.; Scott C. MacDonald '90 of Nashua, N.H; David B. Pemberton '72 of Richmond, Va.; and Timothy M. Riley '75 of Bedford, N.H., were elected to the UNH Alumni Association board in spring 2000.

Also elected, for a second term, was Karen A. Johnson '84 of Hingham, Mass. In addition, John H. Lawson '49, '52G of Amesbury, Mass., and Venice, Fla., was elected to a four-year term on the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees.