HWS News
8 November 2024 Allison Morrow ’76 Commits $5.125 Million to Support Sciences and Annual Fund at HWS
Morrow’s gift will support advances in the sciences at HWS.
Trustee Allison Morrow '76 has committed $5.125 million to Hobart and William Smith. This generous gift will be used for the sustainability and advancement of the sciences in memory of her sister, Seth Jane Morrow, with $5 million dedicated to support for science instrumentation, equipment and infrastructure. The remaining $125,000 will be directed to the Annual Fund over the next five years.
Morrow’s contribution is the latest in a long history of philanthropy and service to HWS. Since joining the Board of Trustees in 2000, she has served on nearly every committee, most recently chairing the Advancement, Communications and Honors Committee. She has supported numerous fundraising initiatives strengthening every aspect of campus life with a focus on athletics and the sciences.
“Allison is an extraordinary trustee, and I am so grateful for her support of a project that will forever change Hobart and William Smith,” says President Mark D. Gearan. “For more than two decades, she has been a steadfast supporter of HWS, challenging her fellow board members and me to think bigger and aim higher. Her leadership as chair of the Advancement, Communications and Honors Committee saw HWS achieve the largest fundraising year in our history — $103 million — and launch a capital campaign. Anyone who knows her, knows that Allison is a force of nature, and we are so blessed to have her good counsel and ongoing support.”
Morrow visited HWS on a lark, taking an overnight bus to campus by herself because she was intrigued by the bi-disciplinary curriculum and trimester format. When she arrived in the morning, she says a snowstorm had just lifted, the sky was clear and the campus was glistening. “It stole me away.”
“I want our students to experience science for its beauty, creativity and possibilities." Trustee Alison Morrow '76
Initially majoring in Physics, Morrow did not complete the major, as she explains, because of the “windowless, dreary basement classrooms of Eaton Hall.” Instead, she majored in Economics, where she put her analytical skills to use. She came to the major late, declaring in her junior year, so faced a daunting scheduling challenge to complete the major requirements in time for graduation as she also juggled her responsibilities as co-captain of the Tennis Team, a role that made her the quintessential definition of a “student athlete.” To catch up, she spent her afternoons studying with Professor Blair Curry alongside Honorary Trustee Bert McCooey ’76, P’04, P’09. “As a result, Bert and I remain good friends to this day,” she says.
Morrow earned an M.B.A. from Pace University and went on to have a distinguished career in global capital markets. Her keen knowledge of the sciences served her well. “I still see the global markets as energy dynamics, momentum forces, trajectories and slopes,” she says. “There can be atmospheric headwinds pulling diverse markets back and atmospheric tailwinds pulling diverse markets forward.”
Morrow’s commitment to philanthropy and volunteer service was learned from her husband, Jon Cohen, who served as Chair of the Board of Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck School of Business and the Hood Museum. A Trustee Emeritus of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Cohen currently serves as Trustee of the Florence Griswald Museum and is a National Trustee of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He is a William Cullen Bryant Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where he is also on the visiting committee of the American Wing. He is past president of the Board of Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church of the City of New York.
“Through Jon, I learned what it took to serve effectively as a trustee and volunteer,” Morrow explains. “The dedication and seriousness with which he takes his philanthropic work is remarkably impressive to this day.”
Cohen is a long time good friend of L. Thomas Melly ’52, L.H.D. ’02, Trustee Chair Emeritus of the HWS Board of Trustees. “Tom has a wonderful reputation for identifying individuals who will thrive on Hobart and William Smith’s Board and then being very persuasive in his pitch,” Morrow says. Melly made the ask and Morrow enthusiastically accepted the invitation. She has been an appointed member for 25 years.
“Serving on a board is an incredible honor. To respect that great privilege, you must truly stretch yourself in terms of the three Ts: time, talent and treasure,” Morrow says.
Morrow is a member of numerous boards including Stony Brook Southampton Hospital and STAR Aqua Center in Southampton. With an interest in the arts that was cultivated at HWS through her Baccalaureate essay that wedded art and biology through a focus on the work of Leonardo DaVinci, she is a William Cullen Bryant Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where she also served on the visiting committee. She previously was a trustee at the Parrish Art Museum and is a former member of the board of the First Presbyterian Church of the City of New York.
“The associations and personal friendships you develop during your time on a Board are so rewarding and last long after your service has wound down,” she explains. “You develop a bond with your fellow board members that is special because you are working together for one thing that matters to all of you.”
Morrow says that her reason for support of the sciences at HWS is simple: “I want our students to experience science for its beauty, creativity and possibilities. And I want them to experience it in classrooms and labs with windows and fresh air!”
About the New Science Center
Science at HWS is a primary component of the liberal arts education that cultivates skills of inquiry, analysis, synthesis and communication. The creation of a state-of the-art integrated science center on campus is a key priority of “Further Together: The Campaign for Our Third Century.” It will provide the physical facilities that allow for collaborations across disciplines and that match the sophistication of HWS’ science curriculum. Properly equipped, Hobart and William Smith will be well positioned as a leader in STEM programming, attracting the brightest, most inquisitive prospective students and preparing them for lives of consequence through careers in the sciences.
