Marketplace Today Blog

Lawrence University is receiving a $1 million gift to begin a scholarship.

Robert and Bonnie Buchanan of Appleton, both 1962 Lawrence graduates, have established the Bonnie Glidden and Robert C. Buchanan Scholarship with a $1 million gift.

Beginning in the fall of 2010, the gift will provide four student scholarships annually of nearly $12,500 each. Preference will be given to students from the Fox Valley and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula who have an interest in English or economics.

“Given the current economic climate, this is testament to Lawrence’s standing in the community that the Buchanans continue to support our students in good as well as difficult times,” said Cal Husmann, Lawrence’s vice president for development and alumni relations. “This gift provides further proof of the importance of the college and our amazing students, who have demonstrated time and again that they are worthy of this kind of investment.”

The Buchanans, who met as students at Lawrence, have been long-time supporters of the college as well as active volunteers in the local community. Bob Buchanan, who graduated with a degree in economics, is a member of the board of directors of the Fox Valley Performing Arts Center and the Green Bay Packers. A 31-year member of Lawrence’s Board of Trustees, he served as chair of the board from 1984 to 1986. He spent his career working in the paper industry, retiring in 2005 as chairman of Fox Valley Corp., the parent company of Fox River Paper.

Bonnie Buchanan, who earned a degree in English from Lawrence and graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, has served on the board of directors of the Appleton YMCA and the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, and is a member of The Wednesday Club, a local literary society. She also was a director of the Lawrence Alumni Association from 1968 to 1971.

In 1994, the Buchanans established the Bonnie Glidden Buchanan Chair in English Literature, an endowed professorship currently held by Associate Professor Tim Spurgin.

This is the third gift of $1 million or more Lawrence has received in the past nine months for student scholarship support.