Union receives $95,000 from foundations to support Adirondack initiatives

Publication Date

Union's Kelly Adirondack Center has received $95,000 from two distinguished philanthropic organizations that will be used to support the Center’s programs.

The Zemurray Foundation, which supports educational institutions, cultural programs, civic affairs, hospitals and medical research, awarded the Center $80,000. The F.M. Kirby Foundation, which supports a wide range of nonprofit organizations in education, health and medicine, the arts and humanities, civic and public affairs, provided an additional $15,000.

The grants will help support the Center’s lecture and concert series and a program of art exhibitions. It will also help support Union’s new Adirondack mini-term, which provides opportunities for students to gain a broader understanding of biological, social, cultural, economic and political aspects of the Adirondacks.

The Zemurray Foundation and family have deep ties to Union. Roger Thayer Stone, Union Class of 1928, served as the president of the foundation as did his wife, Doris Zemurray Stone, who was a noted archeologist and ethnographer. She received an honorary doctorate from Union in 1973. Their son, Sam Stone, served on Union’s Board of Trustees and his daughter, Stephanie Stone Feoli, is a 1986 graduate of the College and current director of the foundation.

Past support has included two professorships – the Roger Thayer Stone Professor in Sociology and Anthropology, and the Doris Zemurray Stone Professorship in Modern Literary and Historical Studies.

The Kelly Adirondack Center was established in 2011 to advance understanding of the mountains, wilderness and waterways of the Adirondacks. The facility provides meeting spaces and is home to the Adirondack Research Library, the largest collection on the Adirondacks outside of the park. The Kelly Center is surrounded by 111 acres of forever-wild property, the H.G. Reist Sanctuary.

“We are both grateful for and gratified by the support of both of these foundations for the work of the Kelly Adirondack Center," said President Stephen C. Ainlay. "Their support affirms our belief that this is an important initiative for both the College and the region.”

Union Chief of Staff Edward Summers, who guides the College’s Adirondack initiatives, added, “We greatly appreciate the generosity of the Zemurray Foundation and the F.M. Kirby Foundation. The funding will allow us to build the Center’s outreach activities in significant ways and help members of the Union community and the surrounding region develop a deeper appreciation for the Adirondacks.”

For more information visit the center’s website.