Developing Excellence

by Larry L. Rummell
Director of Development

A Landmark Year

We are pleased to announce two major gifts that are the largest in College history.

Mosers Endow $2 Million Chair

Ohio State alumnus Dr. John Moser and his wife, Martha, of Pineville, Louisiana, have made the largest gift in the College's nearly 35-year history. The couple recently made a bequest that will divide their $ 4 million estate equally between Ohio State's College of Biological Sciences and Cornell University. This two million dollar gift will establish the John and Martha Moser Professorship in Insect Systematics. Income from the fund will be used to support both research and education.

Moser received undergraduate and master's degrees in entomology from Ohio State (1951/1954) and a Ph.D. from Cornell in 1958. He is currently an entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

"We have no children to whom to leave our estate," Moser explained. "If it were not for Ohio State and Cornell, we would not be where we are today. We like both institutions equally well and feel that the interaction with graduate students we have experienced over the years has been outstanding. Now we can provide the means of helping these students after we are gone. We hope that this donation will serve as a model for these students and others who have benefitted from the unique opportunity afforded by the graduate program for arthropod systematics at Ohio State."

Reeve To Be First Rod Sharp Professor

Dr. William R. Sharp, of New York City, has given more than $500,000 to establish "The Rod Sharp Professorship in Microbiology" to support the work of an outstanding teacher/researcher in microbial diversity whose research promises relevant industrial, environmental, or medical applications.

At a December 9, 1999 ceremony, Dean Alan Goodridge announced that John Reeve has been named the first Rod Sharp Professor.

Sharp, a former faculty member, credits the Department of Microbiology and the College of Biological Sciences for helping him attain his current success.