9 / 24
launch a pilot teaching program to increase the
number of opportunities for women and underrepre-
sented minorities to succeed in science, technology,
engineering and math (STEM). Smith was one of 14
colleges and universities nationwide to receive a full
grant award from the association’s new initiative,
Teaching to Increase Diversity and Equity in STEM
(TIDES).
In announcing the grant, the AAC&U said that
Smith was selected for the TIDES program because
the college showed “innovation in linking computer/
information sciences with other STEM and non-STEM
courses.”
SustainingaSmith
Treasure
Thanks to a successful
challenge led by a matching
gift from Frances Garber
Pepper ’62, the college has
established a $3 million fund
to endow the director of
special collections position
within the Smith College
Libraries. The director
oversees a newly consoli-
dated program consisting of
the Sophia Smith Collection,
College Archives and the Mortimer Rare Book Collec-
tion. Endowing the director’s position will enable the
libraries to invest additional resources in the special
collections, to strengthen the overall program and
expand access to these unique educational assets.
Taken together, Smith’s Special Collections represent
one of the largest and most significant repositories
of materials documenting the history of women. The
inaugural director, Beth Myers, was hired in 2014.
Proposed Innovation
LabHonors Jill Ker
Conway
President McCartney has big plans to help Smith meet
a growing global demand for more women entrepre-
neurs, and she is partnering with a generous member
of the class of 1981 to make it happen. The alumna’s
$5 million gift is the first toward a $25 million effort to
create the Jill Ker Conway Innovation Center, a state-
of-the-art innovation lab that will offer programs and
support for students wanting to work collaboratively
on ideas that address real-world challenges.
The college is seeking the remaining $20 million
to support the center’s programming, equipment,
leadership and administration. The Conway Center will
be modeled on the Silicon Valley–inspired innovation
labs that have become part of college campuses
around the country.
$1milliongift
DONOR
:
Marcia L. MacHarg ’70 and Dr. Heinz
J. Hockmann, to help endow the Center for
the Environment, Ecological Design and
Sustainability.
$500,000pledge
DONOR
:
Cornelia Mendenhall Small ’66, to
provide annual leadership support to the
Smith Fund for five years.
$100,000grant
DONOR
:
William Randolph Hearst Founda-
tions, to support the Achieving Excellence
in Mathematics, Engineering and Science
program, which serves students interested
in science, technology, engineering and
mathematics fields.
Smith’s Conway Innovation Center will foster
cross-disciplinary thinking and creative risk taking
so that students develop the financial acumen and
business-planning capacities needed to become
entrepreneurs, business owners, social entrepreneurs
and organizational leaders.
G I F T S O F
N O T E