HWS News
19 July 2024 • Alums • Athletics New Scholarship Honors Rawlins '80, P'16 By Andrew Wickenden '09
A new scholarship will remember Trustee Michael Rawlins ’80, P’16, who died unexpectedly in late 2023.
An anonymous alumni gift has created a new endowed scholarship in memory of the late Michael Rawlins ’80, P’16. The gift memorializes the profound impact that Rawlins had on his alma mater, particularly his guidance as a Trustee and his deep engagement as a mentor to dozens of students.
“Michael always gave what he could as long as it went directly to benefiting students. He was always thinking about how to maximize his impact while lifting up those who needed it the most,” says Executive Director of Alumni and Alumnae Relations Chevanne DeVaney ’95, P’21, P’23. “The more students he could expose to HWS and teachings here the better. This scholarship allows the Colleges to do that in memory of someone who always had HWS and the students here at the forefront of his mind.”
As President Mark D. Gearan noted in his remembrance, “Michael embodied the very best of Hobart and William Smith — his formidable intellect and creativity was matched by his indomitable kindness and sense of service.… An extraordinary mentor, beloved classmate and generous friend, Michael made a profound impression on everyone who had the good fortune to cross paths with him.… No one exemplified a life of consequence more than Michael Rawlins.”
In May, Rawlins was celebrated for his service to HWS with a posthumous honorary degree during Commencement 2024.
A talented student-athlete, Rawlins double-majored in history and art history, graduating with high Honors in history. He was a Druid and a member of the Statesmen soccer team.
An innovative user-experience professional, Rawlins led teams as a strategist at companies such as Cigna, FiServ, MassMutual, Hartford Life and Aetna. He then joined ESPN as the principal user experience design architect, breaking new ground with the company’s Fantasy Tools and Design Division, before transferring to the Walt Disney Company as Head of Enterprise Content and the Broadcast Media Design Team.
As a student, Rawlins was a peer mentor and embraced that role as an alumnus. He participated in the Professionals in Residence series, was a judge for the Pitch competition and was the 2019 keynote speaker for HWS’ Multicultural Networking and Career Conference. In the more than 40 years since he graduated, he offered ongoing counsel and friendship to countless alumni and students.
Rawlins joined the HWS Board of Trustees in 2019, providing vital counsel on the committees for the Student Experience; Advancement and Communications; and Belonging, Diversity and Equity. He was an instructor at the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, vice president of the User Experience Professionals Association and president emeritus of the association’s Connecticut chapter. He was a board member at the Hill-Stead Museum and the Connecticut Science Center and served as president for A Better Chance Program in Glastonbury, Conn., which brought promising students to his hometown for educational opportunities. In recognition of his engagement, Rawlins twice received the White House’s President’s Volunteer Service Award, earning bronze recognition in 2015 and silver in 2017.
Michael was part of a large HWS legacy family — one of five siblings to attend HWS, a parent of a graduate and cousin of another. He is survived by his wife, Rhonda; daughter, Melissa, and son, Dylan Rawlins ’16; siblings, Janice Faulkner ’76, Marilyn Rawlins-Grundy ’86, and Norman Rawlins ’88; cousin Laura Douglas ’79; and countless friends.
