The faculty, students and staff of SPO welcomed Lane Kauffmann to a Welcome Back Reception on Friday, September 30th, in appreciation of his generous gift to our department in the form of a fellowship for one of our SPO concentrators. He pointed out that one of the future recipients may be present that very evening.
Lane Kauffmann explains why providing this opportunity for SPO concentrators was so important him.
"I had three aims in establishing the Howard and Suzanne Kauffmann Fund for Spanish and Portuguese Studies. First, I wish to honor the memory of my beloved parents.
They introduced me to the Spanish language and to Latin American culture in the late 1950s, when they moved our family to Perú and Colombia. We lived in those countries for three and a half years. My father’s work later took my parents to other countries in Latin America and to Spain and Portugal, as well. They made many good friends there, and always showed genuine respect and appreciation for these cultures. The fund is also a way of thanking them for financing my undergraduate studies at Princeton (1966-70), when I was a concentrator in Spanish literature in what was then called the Dept. of Romance Languages and Literatures. This brings up my second aim: to thank and honor the distinguished professors who advised, taught, and inspired me, including Edmund L. King (my senior thesis advisor, later a mentor and friend), Raymond S. Willis, James E. Irby, Alban Forcione, Antonio Alatorre, Vicente Llorens, and John B. Hughes. My third and most forward-looking aim is to create annual Fellowship awards to assist meritorious SPO concentrators, present and future, to pursue research toward their senior theses, ideally--when circumstances allow it--while living in Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking countries directly relevant to their theses".
He went on to thank colleagues at Princeton who helped make the fund a reality for SPO students.
"I would like to thank three individuals whose assistance was invaluable in establishing the Fund. My initial contact was Jane Danek, the University’s Deputy Director of Gift Planning, who was a congenial and valued consultant over the year or so of the fund’s incubation. Professor Emeritus (and former Dept. Chair) Angel Loureiro --whom I had the pleasure of meeting over twenty years ago, when
he invited me to serve on the department’s Advisory Council--was a generous interlocutor whose sage advice helped me formulate the aims and parameters of the fund. Angel quickly put me in touch with his good friend and former colleague, Pedro Meira Monteiro, SPO’s current Chair, whom I have enjoyed getting to know in phone, zoom, and email exchanges. Pedro has provided wise and practical counsel throughout the process. I am very grateful to all three individuals for their kind assistance, and am happy to say that I will soon have the pleasure of thanking each of them in person. I also look forward to meeting current SPO concentrators, some of whom may well be future awardees of the Howard and Suzanne Kauffmann Fund for Spanish and Portuguese Studies. (RLK, ‘70)"
The individuals mentioned by Lane Kauffmann are pictured here left to right with Angel Loureiro to the far left, Lane Kauffmann next him followed by Pedro Meira Monteiro)