Rick Kimball '78 and his wife Kathy have donated $5.5 million to the College to endow a chaired professorship in history and support the construction of an auditorium in the new Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center, the Dartmouth Office of Public Affairs announced Monday. The gifts are part of the Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience, an effort to raise $1.3 billion by the end of 2009.
The Kimballs were unavailable for comment by press time.
Of the $5.5 million, $3 million will go towards the Arvo J. Oopik '78 auditorium in the science center. Oopik, a cardiologist with the Indian Health Service and Rick Kimball's classmate, died along with two of his colleagues in a 1994 airplane crash. The auditorium will seat 200.
"[The auditorium] is a gathering space, a teaching space, a space for learning," Carrie Pelzel, vice president of the development office, said. "[Oopik's] career was really launched at Dartmouth and through his studies at Dartmouth, and so to name something [after him] that is the heart of the learning experience, a major classroom, seems very fitting."
The Class of 1978 plans to contribute a total of $40 million for the construction of the Life Sciences Center as a naming gift. Construction on the center, which is being challenged by local residents, is scheduled to begin in August, according to the College's Office of Planning, Design and Construction web site.
The John Kimball Jr. 1943 Professorship, named in honor of Rick Kimball's father, will go to a faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences who teaches American or European history. John Kimball '43 Tu '44, who served as a Marine Corps fighter pilot in World War II and Korea, was a history major at the College.
"Endowed professorships are extremely important for both faculty recruitment and retention," Dean of the Faculty Carol Folt said in an e-mail. "They provide the means for Dartmouth to attract, recognize and honor distinguished faculty members. This recognition is highly regarded in the academy and faculty who are selected for these prestigious professorships are proud of the tradition and what it says about their professional contributions. Dartmouth faculty also really value their connection to the families whose generosity and belief in the importance of faculty have created the named chairs."
Rick and Kathy Kimball, both members of the President's Leadership Council at Dartmouth, have also given to the Dartmouth College Fund and endowed two scholarship funds for financial aid.
The Campaign for the Dartmouth experience, Dartmouth's largest fund-raising effort in history, focuses on four areas: improving teaching and scholarship, residential and campus life, making education accessible and raising "unrestricted dollars," according to a press release. The College has raised over $1 billion thus far.
