Year in Review: Honoring AUP Leadership

AS WE MOVE QUICKLY TOWARDS A NEW YEAR, WE ARE TAKING A MOMENT TO LOOK BACK AT SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF 2018 WITH OUR SERIES A YEAR IN REVIEW. With #GivingTuesday one day away we asked Mary McLean EvAns, Vice President for Presidential INitiatives, to help us take stock of the incredible support we received throughout 2018 and the leaders we were proud to celebrate this year.

In May, AUP honored the generosity and leadership of three board chairs who served the University at pivotal moments in AUP history: Pierre Salinger, David McGovern and Judith Ogilvie. These three remarkable individuals led the Board of Trustees for a combined total of twenty years, periods of remarkable growth and change for AUP. Each served as a trusted strategic advisor, an ambassador of the liberal arts in Europe and a staunch defender of the University, shaping AUP’s educational culture and setting its course. When Pierre Salinger became chairman in 1980, the American College of Paris had recently transitioned from a two-year college to a four-year institution. David McGovern, who is AUP’s longest-standing trustee, served as chairman during our transition to a University. By the conclusion of Judith Ogilvie’s chairmanship in 2014, we were poised to launch a full renovation of the campus and new strategy in admissions to recruit the Global Explorers we identify with AUP today. In recognition of their leadership, as well as of their personal generosity to AUP, the three individual salons on the first floor of Combes bear their names, providing a daily reminder of the importance of leadership in three of our busiest campus spaces.

Alumni, parents and friends of AUP support the University on a daily basis with gifts of volunteer time and financial generosity, as well as offering personal expertise to share with our community. These gifts have a real impact on our community, from guest lectures in classrooms and salons across campus, to career mentoring programs supporting students’ professional exploration, to financial support for buildings, financial aid and other essential opportunities such as Coup de Pouce, research projects and faculty development.