Kenan Professorship Endowed

A grant of $750,000 from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust of New York City, to establish at Dartmouth an endowed professorship that will strengthen the quality of undergraduate education, was announced last month by President Dickey.

The Kenan grant was the first major contribution to the Third Century Fund since the $51-million campaign was publicly launched with a Trustee nucleus fund of more than $5 million. One half of the goal has been allocated to supporting the faculty and academic programs.

In making the grant, the Kenan trustees said, "The chair is being established at Dartmouth to support a teacher whose enthusiasm for learning, commitment to teaching, and interest in students will make a notable contribution to the undergraduate community of Dartmouth College."

The occupant of the new faculty chair, to be known as The William R. Kenan Professor, will be designated soon.

The William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust was established under the will of the late Mr. Kenan, a chemist and industrialist who died in 1965. Former president of the Florida East Coast Railway Company, Mr. Kenan gave broad powers to the trustees of the trust but urged that the income be used for educational purposes. The trustees in 1966 established endowed chairs in Mr. Kenan's name at five universities in New York state. In those cases, as in Dartmouth's, the stated purpose of the grants was to encourage outstanding professors to devote more of their time and energies to undergraduate teaching.

As a young engineer, Mr. Kenan assisted in identifying calcium carbide and determining the formula under which acetylene gas could be derived from it. He became a consultant to universities and industrial companies, and a technical expert on electrical furnaces. In his will he said, "I have always believed firmly that a good education is the most cherished gift an individual can receive."