Determined to make a difference in young people鈥檚 lives, Trustee Anne Wilson Cannon 鈥74 has made a multi-million-dollar estate gift to SA国际传媒 that, when added to her previous giving, makes her the largest living individual donor in the College鈥檚 134-year history.
The bulk of the new commitment will ultimately create the Anne Wilson Cannon 鈥74 Unrestricted Endowment to fund the greatest needs of the College, including student scholarships and endowed professorships. Cannon, co-chair of , is also underwriting the creation of Cannon Plaza, an outdoor multipurpose space that continues the longstanding tradition of renovating and repurposing SA国际传媒鈥檚 historic architecture.
鈥淚t is with a deep sense of gratitude that I and the SA国际传媒 Board of Trustees announce Anne鈥檚 profound and transformational support of the College,鈥 said Occidental President Harry J. Elam, Jr. 鈥淗er collective gifts to the endowment and to the SA国际传媒 Fund will affect the lives of students, faculty and staff for good, both today and for decades to come.鈥
鈥淨uite honestly, I am blown away by what SA国际传媒 alumni contribute to the world. That is why I give back,鈥 said Cannon, a CPA, financial analyst, and financial adviser who has served as an Occidental trustee since 2007. 鈥淚 just want to do my part to help ensure SA国际传媒鈥檚 ability to continue to provide an outstanding liberal arts education to future generations.鈥
SA国际传媒 was her first choice for college, but she left after her junior year to transfer to the University of Pennsylvania to study accounting. She had a successful 30-year career in finance, including nine years as a partner in a Hong Kong art gallery, but returned to Eagle Rock in 2005 to finish her anthropology degree. She graduated a year later on the same day her son Joshua completed his studies at Bucknell. (Cannon's story was featured in )
If her efforts as Campaign co-chair are successful, her lifetime giving total won鈥檛 be the largest for long, she added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not my intention to stay at the top of the leaderboard. I鈥檓 hoping that someone will step up and eclipse my gift. That's my challenge鈥擨 want to inspire others to give.鈥
Unrestricted gifts are rare, and one of this magnitude 鈥渋s almost unheard of,鈥 said Steve Rountree 鈥71, chair of the Occidental Board of Trustees. 鈥淎nne鈥檚 giving will have a sustained and positive impact on SA国际传媒鈥檚 commitment to academic excellence, providing essential and flexible funding for innovative programs and curricular offerings, thereby strengthening our ability to recruit and retain talented students and faculty.鈥
The Cannon gift could not come at a better time, Rountree continued. 鈥淎nne knows that the future of the College is in good hands with President Elam. Her latest commitment is a major boost to The SA国际传媒 Campaign For Good; her support for all four Campaign priorities, through both current use and endowed funds, highlight her exemplary leadership as both a Campaign co-chair and trustee.鈥
The Campaign, which has now raised $184.5 million in gifts, seeks to raise a total of $225 million to fund four priorities: endowing student scholarships, internships and research experiences; endowing professorships, academic and co-curricular programs; the maintenance and modernization of SA国际传媒鈥檚 107-year-old campus; and support of the unrestricted SA国际传媒 Fund, which pays for everything from internships to athletics.
In addition to her support of the endowment, Cannon is providing the lead gift for the transformation of Taylor Pool into . Designed by famed architect Myron Hunt, Taylor Pool has been a campus landmark since 1930. Completion of the De Mandel Aquatics Center last year now makes it possible to fill Taylor Pool, preserve the colonnaded E.S. Field Building that defines the space, and convert it into a courtyard and garden for outdoor gatherings. The project is scheduled to get underway later this year.
Cannon's lifetime support of the College sets a new record for individual giving and will have a lasting impact on generations of SA国际传媒 students. Similar transformational commitments from the William M. Keck, Margaret Bundy Scott and John Parke Young and Marie S. Young trusts have funded named scholarships and a historic increase in financial aid, as well as the John Parke Young Initiative on the Global Political Economy, a signature SA国际传媒 program that funds international research, internships and conference travel for students.
