[Asis-l] Syracuse iSchool Receives Largest Gift Ever from LIS Alumna

[John David Ross]

Syracuse iSchool Receives Largest Gift Ever from LIS Alumna

The School of Information Studies (iSchool) at Syracuse University learned today it is the recipient of a landmark gift of $7 million from the estate of Mrs. Estelle Wilhelm, a 1939 graduate of the school. A professional librarian for most of her career, Wilhelm died in 2012 in Gillette, New Jersey, and had no surviving relatives.

Wilhelm worked as a children's librarian from 1939-1944 at the Endicott, N.Y. Public Library, the Philadelphia Public Library and the New York Public Library. She later worked for the military as a post librarian at the Battery General Hospital in Rome, Ga., the U.S. Navy Material Technical Library Catalog Office in New York City and the military base in Cape Lookout, N.C. where her monthly book allowance was said to be $500.

Of the gift, $1 million will be designated for the iSchool’s Tech Endowment which provides new and upgraded technology for classrooms and labs. How the remainder of the gift will be allocated is yet to be determined. The first $2.5 million is expected before the end of the year with the remainder to come in several disbursements in the coming year.

The estate gift was made in memory of Wilhelm’s mother, Katherine Katchmar, and is the largest single gift in the history of the iSchool.  In 2006, Wilhelm made a $1 million gift to the iSchool that named the Katherine Katchmar Learning Center in Hinds Hall.

“We are most appreciative of this generous gift from our loyal alum, Mrs. Estelle Wilhelm, a graduate of our Masters in Library Science Program and a dedicated and happy librarian for many years,”says Dean of the iSchool and Trustee Professor Elizabeth D. Liddy. “As we plan how to best put her gracious gift to good use for the betterment of our school and the support of our students, we will frequently think back at how much she valued her education with us, her many years in a career she loved, and the great smile on her face when she visited us in 2006 to celebrate her previous gift to the school.”

View online: http://ischool.syr.edu/newsroom/news.aspx?recid=1525
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