Gratitude Through Remembrance
Michi Vonnegut ’68“From its start as a Teacher’s College nearly 120 years ago, UAlbany has grown, expanded, and diversified to find itself at the cutting edge of some of the most rapidly advancing areas of scholarship and research,” states Michi Vonnegut, who earned her bachelor’s degree in biology in 1968. “As an alumna, it is exciting and gratifying to be part of such a dynamic and worthwhile endeavor. I am amazed and gratified to see the impressive growth and diversity in students and programs that has taken place at the University since I was an undergraduate.”
A strong sense of gratitude and appreciation defines Vonnegut’s relationship with UAlbany today. A native of East Greenbush, New York, and a former biomedical researcher, she is committed to supporting the University’s future through planned gifts she has designated to UAlbany in her will.
“When I was an undergraduate, I worked part-time in the University library where I met my future husband, Peter Vonnegut, on my 21st birthday and his first day of work at the library. My dear husband passed away far too young from Crohn’s disease. To honor his memory, I am leaving a planned gift to UAlbany in both our names to the library where Peter and I first met,” Vonnegut warmly recalls.
The College of Integrated Health Sciences (CIHS), formerly known as the School of Public Health, will also benefit from Vonnegut’s generosity. Her planned gift to the college is deeply personal, reflecting both her family’s history and her own career in biomedical research.
“When my parents moved to Albany in 1948, there were no other Japanese families living in the area. My parents enabled me to flourish in what was initially a prejudiced environment with no family or cultural support. My father got a job at Sterling Winthrop, a pharmaceutical research facility located on the same property that more recently housed the School of Public Health. My parents successfully endured, survived, and triumphed over significant life impediments, so I am leaving a planned gift to the CIHS to honor the memory of my beloved parents to whom I owe so much,” says Vonnegut.
The University at Albany is grateful to Vonnegut for her vision and thoughtful commitment to future generations of students and scholars. Her planned gifts will honor the people and places that shaped her life while helping to strengthen the University for years to come.
“My bequest to the University libraries will support and expand a very necessary resource that is universally essential to college life: books, documents, manuscripts, and all library materials. Without these, there is no understanding, transmittal, or continuity of human existence.”
She adds “My future gift to the CIHS is to support programs in cancer and biomedical research. It is especially meaningful to me because my mother died from cancer, and my father and I both worked in biomedical research. Research is making rapid strides in enabling us to understand and effectively treat the disease. I want to contribute to that effort at UAlbany.”
Written by Valerie DiRocco-Ruskin
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