Release
UAlbany Renames Inaugural Scholarship Fund in Honor of Kermit and Phyllis Hall
Contact: Catherine Herman (518) 956-8150
ALBANY, N.Y. (September 18, 2006) -- The University at Albany and the University at Albany Foundation today announced the Inaugural Scholarship Fund has been renamed the Kermit L. Hall and Phyllis A. Hall Inaugural Scholarship Fund at a commemoration ceremony celebrating the former president's life and contributions to the University.
"I wish to express my deepest appreciation to the University and the Foundation for honoring Kermit in this way, and to the many people who have supported Kermit's vision by giving to the Inaugural Scholarship Fund," said Phyllis Hall.
"On the day he arrived on campus, it was clear right away that improving the undergraduate experience was Kermit Hall's top priority," said George R. Hearst III, President of the University at Albany Foundation. "He did this by providing unprecedented access to the president himself, by showcasing a commitment to academic excellence, and by utilizing funds that could have been used for his own lavish inauguration to provide scholarship opportunities for well-deserved students. It is a great honor to rename this fund in his memory and in recognition of the support of his remarkable wife, Phyllis."
"From the moment I met Kermit, I knew that student success at the University was his paramount concern," said Susan Herbst, Provost and Executive Vice President, University at Albany. "It was a privilege to work beside him as we set out to improve opportunities for undergraduates by actively engaging students and by creating an honors college. We are also especially grateful to Phyllis Hall, who along with Kermit made the first pledge to the Inaugural Scholarship Fund."
On his third day in office, Kermit Hall established the Inaugural Scholarship Fund to assure that qualified undergraduates have the means to attend UAlbany. He jumpstarted the Fund with $100,000 that the campus could have spent on a presidential inauguration, and he and his wife, Phyllis, pledged $10,000. The fund today stands at nearly $3 million, with 1,605 gifts contributed and 19 scholarships awarded under the program.
Hall, a pre-eminent scholar of American constitutional, legal, and judicial history, died Sunday, August 13, in South Carolina. He was 61. He took office as UAlbany's 17th president on Feb. 1, 2005, after serving as president and professor of history at Utah State University for four years, and brought tremendous passion, energy and vitality to the job of leading the University at Albany.
