The University of Vermont
Of all the organizations supported by the Lintilhacs, the roots
run deepest at the University of Vermont (UVM), which with over
11,000 students is Vermont’s largest educational institution. Phil
graduated UVM in 1963 and has been a professor of plant biology
since 1976; Crea earned her masters in science teaching in geology
from the university in 1978. Since 1987 the Lintilhac Foundation
has funded many projects —from research to renovations to seminars
— that touch all aspects of campus life and work to advance the
university’s goals. This is an important point explains Crea, “UVM
is the only research institute in the state, and we feel it is
so important for it to be an economic engine. We’ll do whatever
we can to follow the priorities of the leadership at UVM to make
it a success because it means so much to Vermont.”
The Foundation’s first major financial commitment to UVM was to
reinvigorate the lake studies program with the purchase in 1987
of the research vessel Melosira II. As scientists, and particularly
given Crea’s background in geology and oceanography, the Lintilhacs
felt a quality research program and research vessel on Lake Champlain
were musts. “We saw the lake as a wonderful but unexploited educational
resource,” Phil said at the time of the gift. Since then the Melosira
II has consistently been a critical education tool for some 500
students who use it each year, and a primary enabler of important
lake research projects.
Says Mary Watzin, professor of aquatic ecology and director of
the ecosystem science laboratory for the Rubenstein School of Environment
and Natural Resources, “The Melosira has been the platform for
every major scientific project we’ve done on the lake for the last
15 years. This includes discoveries we’ve made about how zebra
mussels are altering the lake’s food web, documenting the history
of pollution in the lake, and tracking toxic blue-green algae blooms.
The Melosira is an extraordinary floating classroom to educate
students, policy makers, and citizens about lake management challenges
and opportunities. Its impact on lake studies, thanks to the Lintilhac
Foundation, has been incalculable.”
Over the years the Foundation has supported a myriad of projects
at UVM including departmental seminar series in geology, plant
science, and business; the Asian Studies program; merit scholarships;
the Perkins Geology Museum; the Landscape Change Program, an online
archive of over 13,000 historic images of Vermont; the George D.
Aiken lecture series; the Lane Series for performing arts; and
the renovation of Old Mill and the John Dewey Lounge; in addition
to ongoing general support. It has also consistently supported
new research, such as innovative work in plant biophysics by Phil’s
colleague Dr. Chunfang Wei.
Among the university programs most ardently supported by the Foundation
is the graduate-level Field Naturalist Program, founded in 1983
by Dr. Hubert “Hub” Vogelmann, professor emeritus of plant biology.
Under the guidance of Vogelmann and colleagues Dan Mann, Jeff Hughes,
and Paul Bierman, the Field Naturalist program has grown into one
of the finest of its kind in the country. It has pioneered research
on the effects of acid rain and on sustainable forestry — the extent
to which the northern forest (approximately 26 million acres throughout
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York) can yield an economic
return while maintaining the integrity of its ecosystem. Significant
financial backing by the Foundation from 1996 to 1999 was critical
in ensuring the long-term health of the program.
The Lintilhacs are keen supporters of UVM’s ambition to establish
itself as the premier small research university in the country.
In addition to its deep involvement with lake studies, the Foundation
backed a university test-site for wind power and has provided long-term
support for the plant biology and geology departments, as well
as the Rubenstein School where Crea serves on the Board of Advisors.
“Part of our strategy for the future would be to continue working
with the university on scholarship, on research, and on building
an economy in the state that is an environmental economy,” Crea
says. “That could be Vermont’s niche.”
In recent years the Foundation has made its largest financial
contributions yet to UVM: in 2006 a $500,000 grant to the Rubenstein
School for a “green” renovation of the Aiken Natural Resources
Building, and a $1 million pledge towards construction of a new
plant science building; and in 2004 a $1 million challenge grant
to endow scholarships. This creatively designed scholarship grant
encourages other donors, by matching 50% of gifts that are at least
$67,000, to contribute towards the $100,000 minimum required to
name and endow a UVM scholarship. “We want to do something that
will help the university with its top priorities,” Crea said at
the time, “and it is clear that scholarships are the greatest area
of need.” For Phil, a member of the faculty for nearly 30 years,
enabling more scholarships is the key to enriching the intellectual
diet of the university. “If you want good people,” he says simply,
“you need to be able to get them the money.”
“The Lintilhac Foundation has helped to advance the University
of Vermont with support that envelops a broad spectrum of needs
and strategic priorities,” says UVM President Daniel Mark Fogel,
“from student scholarships, to faculty teaching and research to
facilities enhancements and signature programs like environmental
science and studies. It is thoughtful and purposeful philanthropy
that has helped to shape our aspirations for UVM’s future.”
The research vessel Melosira II on Lake Champlain.
Mary Watzin (left), professor of aquatic ecology, with a student.
The University of Vermont and Burlington.
UVM geologist Paul Bierman (right) and a colleague extracting
sediment core from a Vermont pond.