| Trustees' chair announces $2M
gift Leslie Quick to establish two $1 million endowments for professor re-education Friday, Nov. 5, 1999
By Jesse Bull Leslie Quick, chairman of the Board of Trustees, announced Friday that he and his wife Eileen plan to donate $2 million for faculty development endowment funds. He said he made the donations to give the faculty members a means to improve teaching skills. "We can always use help with our skills," he said. He said a committee would review applications for money from the endowments. Faculty members could then use the money for research, trips to conferences and to improve teaching skills, he said. The James Martine Faculty Development Endowment Fund for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning in Clare College and The Leo Keenan Faculty Devolpment Endowment Fund will each receive $500,000, once in December and once in January. The Clare College Endowment will provide funds that target improvements in the university's core curriculum. The Keenan Endowment will provide funds to faculty involved in the improvement of the teaching and learning processes. He also said in the current economic boom, the university could expect the money to double itself every seven-to-ten years. Quick said he named the endowments after two professors with whom he had first-hand experience. He named the Clare College endowment after Martine, an English professor at the university since 1971. "When (Quick) told me Friday morning, I was humbled, happy, and delighted," Martine said. "All a teacher ever wants to do is touch one student. To be able to see that happen fills me with delight." Martine and Quick came to Bonaventure in 1971, Martine as a professor and Quick as a student. "There was that rapport with the kids from the get-go. I always remembered his classes, speaking of Hemingway and Herman Miller," Quick said. He named the other fund after Keenan, now in his 51st year as an English professor at St. Bonaventure. "Leslie first told me (last) Friday morning," Keenan said. "I almost fell out of my chair. I was stunned. It was such an honor, I never expected it." "He is a coach, mentor, and tough guy, but a fair and loving person," Quick said. "It isn't just a job to him. There's a real commitment."
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