Sets up a Named Endowment: The Gift that Keeps on Giving

An IBM employee, Audrey Holm-Hansen chose to attend Champlain for refresher courses and ended up earning an associate's degree in electrical technology in 1994. This was her third degree -- adding to a bachelor's from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master's in computer science from UVM. She shares the reasons for establishing a named endowment at Champlain.

"The quality of the professors is outstanding. Dick Harter and George Bradford taught most of my classes and they were fantastic -- two of the best teachers I have ever had in my life. Champlain is a small school so I was never treated like a number.

My father died of cancer the year I turned 40. In thinking through his eulogy, I remembered how he had also put himself through college part-time after already having worked in industry for several years. He was always trying to improve himself. I had been donating to Champlain regularly to say thanks for the quality education I'd received. With my father's death at a relatively young age, I saw that life is a gift. I wanted to help others who were also trying to improve themselves, and decided to endow a scholarship to honor my father's memory.

Staying connected with Champlain has let me touch the future. I like knowing that this endowment will help others get a quality education, and I hope that they, in turn, will use that education to carry on the tradition and help others who follow to do the same."

Audrey Michaelis Holm-Hansen
Class of 1994
South Burlington, Vermont