Gift Establishes Alex. Brown Student Investment Program at Washington College

Fund Gives Undergrads Opportunity to Do "Real-World" Investing

Chestertown, MD, March 6, 2006 — Jim Price, former partner and managing director of Alex. Brown and a Trustee Emeritus of Washington College, and his wife Midge have donated $500,000 to the College to establish the Alex. Brown Student Investment Program. The program—one of only 135 such investment funds at colleges around the country—will enable undergraduate students studying business management to learn first-hand about investment strategies and working capital markets.

"When I finished college, I had no real-world knowledge of the investment world," said Price. "It was learning on the job. When I joined Alex. Brown & Sons, I had great mentors but, as I look back, I always wished I had started with more knowledge of investments."

The $500,000 gift will form the corpus of a new fund to be invested, monitored, and reported on by a select group of Washington College business management majors under the guidance of faculty and a fund advisory board. The students will gain this experience as part of a new course on capital markets and investment strategies that will include regular presentations by industry leaders and coursework on business ethics.

"By adding real-world connections, this incredible gift transforms how Washington College students learn about finance and investing," said Professor Michael Harvey, Chair of the Business Management Department. "The program makes it possible for our undergraduates to take on multi-million-dollar responsibilities, to learn by doing and to experience first-hand the complexities of investing and financial decision-making in today's markets. It's a large set of responsibilities, but I'm confident our students are up to it."

Price hopes that the course will not only impart academic knowledge but career advantages as well.

"Our students should arrive in the business world with the edge we want all Washington College graduates to have," he added.

In addition to his belief in the value of student investment programs, Price wants his gift to memorialize the name of Alex. Brown at Washington College. The two institutions share a long, rich history in the state of Maryland. Alex. Brown, the oldest investment banking firm in the country, was founded in Baltimore in 1800—just 18 years after Washington College was established in Chestertown—and the firm maintained its headquarters in Baltimore for nearly 200 years. Following in his father's footsteps, Price joined the firm in 1952 and retired in 1996. After graduating from Washington College, his son Jon Price, Class of 1980, also started his career at Alex. Brown and now works for Brown Advisory and Trust, a spin-off of Alex. Brown. Both Price and the College's current Board Chairman, Jay Griswold, have served as trustees of Washington College.

Price has invited former partners and associates of Alex. Brown to support the student investment program, and he anticipates a strong response.

"Some of my former Alex. Brown partners will be joining me in this project, and The Hodson Trust has agreed to match my gift and other monies that are contributed up to $1 million."

The Hodson Trust's matching gifts will be invested in the College's endowment, with earnings used to offset faculty compensation, speaker fees, and other costs associated with this new program.

Washington College is a private, independent college of liberal arts and sciences located in historic Chestertown on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Founded in 1782 under the patronage of George Washington, it was the first college chartered in the new nation.

John S. Toll Announces Plan To Step Down As President Of Washington College

Chestertown, MD, June 18, 2003 — Dr. John S. Toll, President of Washington College, announced Monday to the College's Board of Visitors and Governors that at the end of the 2003-2004 academic year he will be prepared to conclude his service as president, a position he has held since January 1995. During his sabbatical year of 2004-2005, Toll plans to continue as an advisor to the institution and to the Board as it installs a new president for the 221-year-old institution.
“As I approach my tenth year at Washington College, the time is appropriate for me to assess the College's future leadership requirements and my own plans and aspirations,” said Toll, who turns 80 this October. “I am enormously proud of what the College has achieved, and I wish to complete my term as President when the College is well positioned to achieve a successful transition to new leadership.”
“John Toll's period of leadership at Washington College will constitute its most successful decade in history,” said Jack S. Griswold, Chair of the Board of Visitors and Governors. Under Toll's leadership, the College has achieved increased donor support and a quadrupling of the College's endowment, expanded academic programs and new academic facilities, a growing applicant pool and increased selectivity, and enhanced rankings in U. S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges and other independent college guides. Meanwhile, the College has remained deliberately small. With an undergraduate enrollment capped at approximately 1250 students, Toll believes the College can provide an ideal environment for collaborative learning and for fostering a strong sense of community.
“Words cannot adequately express my appreciation and admiration for what Dr. Toll has accomplished for Washington College,” said Griswold. “By any standard, his presidency will be remembered as among the College's most remarkable.”
In accepting Dr. Toll's plans for retirement, the Board voted to award him the title of President Emeritus when he concludes his presidency.
Toll is an internationally respected figure in academic and scientific communities. He has attracted a number of national figures to speak at the campus, among them former President George H. W. Bush and James Watson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning physicist who, with Francis Crick, discovered the double helix structure for DNA.
“Throughout a long and distinguished career as both a scientist and an educator, John Toll has built programs that support the pursuit of knowledge in modern physics and related sciences,” Watson remarked upon learning of Toll's intentions to step down. “No educator has had more impact in fostering cooperation in scientific research than John Toll. From university research labs to undergraduate classrooms, John Toll has made significant contributions to the success of science education in America.”
Toll will also be remembered for returning the College's benefactor and first trustee, George Washington, to the forefront of the College's identity, and emphasizing the early institution's role in forging an educated citizenry for what was then a new nation. One of Toll's first initiatives was the Washington Scholars program, which awards $40,000 scholarships to National Honor Society and Cum Laude Society high school students who exemplify the qualities of leadership, scholarship, character and service. Today, more than half of all students enrolled at the College are Washington Scholars.
David L. Warren, President of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, commented on Toll's impact at Washington College: “John Toll is a national treasure in American higher education. With an illustrious career already established, and at a point when most people would be comfortable resting on their accomplishments, John instead chose to take on the challenge of leading Washington College into the new century. Since 1995, he has done that with style, substance, and a degree of success that has been noted all across higher education. Today, thanks to John's efforts, Washington College stands as one of the rising stars of private higher education. Its new-found national stature over the past eight years is in large measure a reflection of the stature of its president.”
A Princeton-trained physicist, Chancellor Emeritus and professor of physics at the University of Maryland, and a former president of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Toll's career in higher education has spanned six decades. His first appointment as a college president came in 1965 when he became the first president at the 1,800-student State University of New York at Stony Brook. By the time he left, the school had grown to 17,000 students with specialized schools for public affairs, medicine, dentistry, nursing, allied health professions, basic health sciences and social work, and had become the leading centers of research in the State University of New York. In recognition of his accomplishments at Stony Brook, Newsday counted Toll among the top 100 individuals who shaped the twentieth century. The university's gift club for benefactors is named for him.
In 1978, the University of Maryland invited Toll to return, this time as president to preside over a system of five campuses. Ten years later, at the request of then-Governor Schaefer, Toll headed up the merger of Maryland's two public multi-campus university systems and the founding of the University of Maryland System, with Toll named as Chancellor. He left that post in 1989 to become president of the Universities Research Association. In 1995, he accepted the position of Acting President of Washington College and later that year accepted the presidency on a permanent basis. While at an age when most people consider retirement, Toll promised the college ten years. By the end of his 2004-2005 sabbatical year, he will have more than fulfilled that commitment.
His leadership has brought considerable progress, financial support and recognition to Washington College, an effect that colleagues call “The Toll Factor.” At the time of his arrival, the College's endowment was under $27 million; at the end of fiscal year 2002 it stood at $104 million. The fundraising campaign he initiated in 1996 achieved its initial goal of $72 million 18 months ahead of schedule, and is targeted to top $100 million by the end of this year. The campaign has funded the Washington Scholars program, four new endowed faculty chairs, and the expansion of the College's physical plant, including the addition of two new academic facilities, 11 new student residence halls, and a $20 million science teaching and research complex now under construction.
While finances and infrastructure grew stronger under his guidance, so did academic initiatives, including the addition of five new majors and a certification program in elementary education. Two new academic centers combine traditional academic programming with community engagement and research opportunities for students—the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and the Center for the Environment and Society.
“John Toll's initiatives at Washington College have strengthened its leadership role in preserving the Chesapeake Bay region,” remarked Congressman Wayne Gilchrest, who represents the district encompassing Washington College. “With a renewed focus on environmental studies and its rich historical heritage, Washington College involves students in issues that matter to the people of the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed.”

Washington College Campaign Reaches $70.5 Million

Chestertown, MD, October 18, 2001 — Three bequests combined with many fiscal year-end gifts have pushed the Campaign for Washington's College to $70.5 million just three years into a five-year, $72 million drive, according to Campaign Chair Jack S. Griswold. The estate of the late Eleanor Gross of Baltimore is expected to provide more than $400,000. The estate of Nancy Gordon Nicewarner '51 of Fort Wayne, Indiana, is expected to generate $100,000. The late Mary Louise Moore '35 of Cheswold, Delaware bequeathed $100,000 to the College.

The renovated Custom House, home of the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and the Center for Environment and Society, will be formally dedicated on October 30. An important part of the Campaign and the future of the College, the two centers have attracted more than $10.2 million for faculty chairs, endowment, and program support. To date, the C.V. Starr Center has drawn $7 million; the Center for Environment and Society has attracted $4.2 million.

In September, the Baltimore Cabinet, co-chaired by Craig Lewis and Doug Hoffberger '94, celebrated the success of its regional effort with a party at the home of Robert C. "Bo" Lewis '79, Craig's son, on September 15. The Baltimore effort raised more than $7.6 million against a $6.5 million goal. A similar effort in the Greater Washington Region has also exceeded its $5 million goal and a celebration is in the planning stages.

The Development Office fully expects to meet and exceed the Campaign's $72 million goal by the end of this calendar year. The Board of Visitors and Governors will meet on November 1 and 3 to discuss future goals. The Development Office wishes to extend its gratitude to all who have contributed to the impressive success to date.

President Toll on National Day of Prayer and Remembrance Ceremony

Remarks of President John S. Toll at the Washington College Service of Remembrance

Chestertown, MD, September 14, 2001 — No one in our country is untouched or unchanged by the vicious attack on innocent lives that took place in New York and Washington, and over the skies of Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

In the Washington College community, we are still learning the magnitude of the personal impact of this great tragedy. To the best of our knowledge, the father of one of our students is confirmed dead in the attack on the World Trade Center. Three other students have parents who worked in the World Trade Center, but who mercifully have been located, either safe, or in one case, in critical condition in a New York City hospital. A relative of one of our students was a pilot aboard one of the United Airline flights out of Boston. Yet another student has a brother who is a Marine guard at the Pentagon and is still missing. In addition, many, many members of our community know of friends and extended family that were lost in these attacks.

Today, in response to the President’s Proclamation, we join the nation and the world in a Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the victims of the terrorist attacks. Earlier today, the countries of the European Union paused to observe three minutes of silence. In Great Britain, the Queen and the Prime Minister joined a nation in mourning the loss of an estimated 500 British citizens in Tuesday’s attack. Indeed, the whole world has been touched and changed by these cowardly acts.

My personal emphasis has been to help those members of the College community whose family members are missing. But we have also responded with programs on campus every day for others in the community, so that people can come together to comfort each other.

It is my fervent belief that we not magnify the impact of the terrorists by allowing them to damage the College program severely. Let today's gathering also be an expression of hope. Let us remember that the human spirit is indomitable and cannot be crushed by the vicious hand of terror. We will continue the work of this community of learning, with hope that the wisdom we acquire will help bring about a lasting peace that will prevent this kind of crime against humanity from ever recurring.

As we reflect today on the lives of those who have perished, let us honor their memory by dedicating our labors to the pursuit of peace and wisdom.

Additional words from Reverend Peter Lai, Chaplain, Heron Point, Chestertown, MD

Almighty God, we ask that you fill this solemn moment with the majesty of your presence and fill our hearts with your love. Our hearts are saddened by the loss of the people who perished as a result of the attacks that took place three days ago. Today we remember and honor them as our heroes. Bring your comforting Spirit to those family members who are in deep despair and in great sorrow. Be with the rescue workers who act with such courage and determination. Guide them and protect them from danger.

For those of us who live today, we pray that this memorial service will inspire us to a greater commitment to you and our neighbors. May we be brave so that enemies who would deprive us of our freedom will not succeed. Give to our president and other leaders your wisdom as they have difficult decisions to make in the days ahead. Give us your wisdom as we try to find meaning in the midst of this horrible tragedy. Fill us with compassion so we can reach out to those in need.

Then as we leave this place, we will be renewed in our spirits with faith, hope and love and we know confidently that the people we honor today will not have died in vain.

In your holy name we pray. Amen.

Additional words from Board Chairman Jay Griswold

There is no question that there is evil in the world. As we reel from the devastation and loss of life in New York, in Washington, and in Pennsylvania, and these affronts to the symbols of a free democracy, we come to understand that the very fabric of our country has been torn. Just as the landscape of New York is changed, so America is changed. We have lost our innocence. We have come to a brutal awareness that we are not invulnerable to terrorist attacks on American soil.

Yet the spirit of the American people remains unflappable. Even in our tremendous sense of loss and sadness, we begin to take solace in the emerging stories that speak to our humanity. We find victories in each rescue of a fallen firefighter, in the messages recorded by hostages held in the skies, in acts of heroism as passengers attempted to wrest control of a plane from the hijackers, in the compassion shared between strangers in time of crisis.

We mourn with those who have suffered great and disastrous loss. All our hearts have been seared by the sudden and senseless taking of innocent lives. We pray for healing and for the strength to serve and encourage one another in hope and faith.

I urge you as you work through all of the emotions to reflect on the broad sweep of history. Much has happened to this country since 1782, tragic and triumphant. God bless Washington College, God bless America.