“Giving ought to be entered into in just the same careful way as investing. Giving is investing.” —John D. Rockefeller Jr.
The Art of the Deal
S. Melvin Rines ’47 is as comfortable in the corporate boardroom as he is in the halls of academe. A high flyer when it comes to international finance, the former UNH Foundation Chair is also a published author and accomplished teacher. Mary Jo Rines is a nationally known artist, who lends her talent and expertise as adviser to the New England Watercolor Society. She is chair of the Art Committee at the Copley Society of Art in Boston, and a member of the Board of Overseers at the Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts.
With a new endowment that bears their name, the couple can now add “patron of the arts” to a growing list of credentials. Using highly appreciated securities to establish the S. Melvin and Mary Jo Rines Art Exhibition Fund, the Rines gift brings distinguished artists and exhibitions to campus. “We enjoy the flexibility that making an outright gift to the University provides, and by using the proceeds from appreciated securities, we are in the position to help right away. Plus, we receive a tax deduction on the value of our contribution and minimize our exposure to capital gains,” says Mel. “We’re always happy to contribute to the growth of the University.” Using the same strategy, the Rines provided vital funding for the Whittemore School’s first high-tech classroom. “We can’t remain a first-class business school without the facilities to match,” says Mel, “so we helped complete a pivotal project that brought immediate benefits to students and faculty alike.”
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Rocking the House
If you ask her, Karen Harrower ’72 can tell you about every one of her undergraduate research projects. “There was hardly any funding available for hands-on research in those days, and every opportunity we got was a memorable one,” says the retired Air Force major who currently lives in San Antonio. Her favorite project? Lugging a gravity meter around Cape Neddick one summer to research the area’s distinctive volcanic origins.
Since she established the Karen L. Harrower Undergraduate Research Fund in 2000, Karen has enjoyed seeing the new opportunities that her endowment provides to today’s aspiring earth scientists. “I’m happy to know that my support adds value to a UNH education. Field work can bring the thrill of discovery home to a young student and have a dramatic impact on his or her overall academic experience.”
But Karen’s gift to the students and the University doesn’t stop there. She’s also made a provision in her will that will help to build her endowment and ensure similar opportunities for tomorrow’s UNH students. “Think of it this way,” she says. “ New Hampshire’s ‘local stones’ have been here for hundreds of millions of years, and UNH students have been studying them for only a fraction of that time! I hope that my bequest provides a little more time to unearth the secrets that the rocks have to tell us.”
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Trail Blazers
As avid hikers, Martha and John Zocchi ’49, ’56G know that choosing the right path can make all the difference in life.
“There have been many times when the quality of our education and knowledge played a critical role in our lives,” says John. “Once, when Martha was hiking on Mount Washington, a sudden, severe squall caused her to lose her way. Although she was in danger, her years of experience navigating difficult terrain gave her the tools she needed, and she found her way to safety. My years as an engineering and business student gave me the tools I needed to design and build essential machinery that was instrumental to the success of my engineering polymers business.
“My University education paved the way for many wonderful things in my life,” he says. “So, in honor of my 50th reunion, we felt that the time was right to make a significant gift to the University— one that would benefit engineering students who are just beginning to blaze their own trails. By naming the UNH Foundation the owner and beneficiary of a new life insurance policy, we were able to add to the John B. and Martha M.W. Zocchi Endowed Fund that we had established previously. This fund supports CEPS New Hampshire and New England students at the graduate and undergraduate levels who demonstrate academic merit and financial need. It is good to know that our estate plans will help provide secure footing for future UNH students as they set out on their own chosen career paths.”
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Depth of Field
Joyce Hiller ’54 came to UNH with a strong interest in sports. As a physical education major (known today as kinesiology), she was an active participant in the University’s small, but lively women’s athletic program. Officially, she played field hockey in the fall, basketball in winter, and tennis in the spring, yet she remembers many other sports-related activities, including those notorious impromptu ski team practices on the president’s lawn and at “Newman’s Nose Dive” near the New England Center.
Today, as a retired physical education teacher with a stable financial picture, Hiller continues her engagement with her university. By establishing two funds that bear her name, Joyce enjoys “passing the ball and stick” to today’s female student athletes with scholarship support for kinesiology majors and field hockey players. “It has been a pleasure to contribute to the University in this way,” says Joyce. “These students deserve our support and I am glad to be in a position to help.
“Now that I’m in my 50th Reunion year, I am pleased to have found an additional way to help the University. After reviewing my financial goals, I chose to establish a charitable gift annuity, because I can save on my taxes and receive additional income. Best of all, I’m contributing to the Memorial Field project and helping to give our students a vastly improved facility on which to play.”
Joyce’s warm generosity has made her a part of the extended UNH family. As she says, “I don’t have any children of my own, but all the kids at UNH? I call them mine.”
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The Feeling is Mutual
Jeanne and Gene Leaver ’44 share a wealth of fond memories and many of them include the University of New Hampshire. In addition to earning his undergraduate degree in engineering, Gene served the University for nearly 30 years and retired as director of physical plant operations and maintenance.
“I owe a great deal to the University and my college and I have a deep appreciation of how much effort and funding is necessary for its daily operation,” says Gene.
“When it came time for my 50th reunion, we began looking for a gift vehicle that would allow us to support the University, generate some income, and have the potential to provide a tax savings. We chose the UNH Pooled Income Fund because it required an initial investment with which we were comfortable. We could therefore continue to build our facilities services scholarship fund and support CEPS and the athletics program, which we have always enjoyed. Eventually, the proceeds of our Pooled Income Fund will also support these areas of interest.”
The Leavers recently added a gift annuity to their program for the extra security of a steady annual income. “It’s nice to know that through the UNH Foundation we are able to meet our retirement needs while lending a helping hand to this University which has meant so much to us over the years.”
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Lifetime Achievement
Dr. Robert Chase ’45 and Ann Parker Chase
“UNH was good for us in several ways. It gave each of us a strong educational background, and in a sense it also gave us each other. We met on campus when we were undergraduates, and we’ve been together ever since.
“Understandably, we’ve always felt a special affection for the University, and we wanted to give something back. We know that private support is especially important to UNH, since it doesn’t get a lot of help from the state. It’s also been our experience that gifts to UNH are very much appreciated—the Foundation clearly demonstrates that, whether you give a hundred dollars or a million.
“We were fortunate enough to have stocks that had done quite well, and we were able to use them to benefit the University while increasing our retirement income. By setting up a charitable remainder annuity trust, we avoided capital gains taxes, received a tax deduction in the year of our gift, and created a predictable and secure source of additional income.”
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View from the Top
Joseph Paterno ’63 and his wife, Nancy, like to say that a UNH education can take you to the top, but they understand that finding the funding is not always easy.
“We believe that a great career is predicated on a solid education and we understand the difficulties aspiring students face while pursuing their academic goals,” says Joe, who received his B.S. from the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. A chemical engineer and former corporate vice president with the Norton Company in Worcester, Mass., Paterno is also a longtime supporter and friend of the University who volunteers his time and expertise as assistant to the dean for industrial relations.
“Successful engineering is based on careful planning, and I have used that thinking when it comes to my financial strategy as well,” says Joe. “For example, I had been contributing to an IRA, and its assets have grown significantly over the years. Through estate planning, we have designated some of those assets to establish a Testamentary Charitable Remainder Unitrust. In doing so, I have accomplished two of my estate planning goals: securing a stable source of income for Nancy after my death, and providing an additional gift to The Joe and Nancy Paterno Endowed Scholarship Fund in support of CEPS undergraduates from New Hampshire.
“I’ve always loved this University and we wanted to provide the same educational opportunities to succeeding generations of undergraduates,” he says. “It is gratifying to know that we have a role to play in ensuring a positive future for UNH students. Giving students a financial lift can be the ticket to their success.”
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Chapter and Verse
“You never know where an act of kindness might lead,” says Dr. Gareth Dunleavy, a Chaucer scholar, retired professor, and friend of the University. “When my wife, Janet, and I relocated from Wisconsin where we had both taught English, Dimond Library was under renovation and its collection was spread out over several buildings. I arrived on campus on a sweltering August day to do research and could not find what I needed.
“A smiling, helpful young woman appeared from within the stacks, and in moments had escorted me to the proper building and the information that I was looking for.”
The rest is history. Gareth became a frequent visitor and when the renovation was complete, Dimond Library’s Special Collections department became his second home.
“After Janet passed away in 2000, I decided to make a gift to the library that would recognize the 30 years that we shared our love for rare books, good literature, and each other,” he says. “Both my Chaucer collection and “Janet’s List,” a collection of signed first editions from the world’s greatest female authors, will be safe, secure, and most of all, appreciated in their new home.
“I have also made a provision as part of my estate plans to establish an endowment using IRA assets that will assure the expansion and preservation of both collections in the years ahead.”
Gareth says that he’ll probably never know the name of the young woman who helped him that summer day, but because of her, UNH students, alumni, and the extended community will be sharing his enduring admiration for Chaucer, and Janet will go on teaching young people what is great to read.
