Susquehanna University regained a tremendous asset when Lynn Hassinger ’57 Askew moved back to the Selinsgrove area in 2004. Since then, she has turned into a role model for all Crusaders by supporting Susquehanna in several key ways. In fact, the university has recognized Lynn’s volunteer efforts by establishing the Lynn H. Askew Award for Outstanding Student Volunteer of the Year.

As a member of the Alumni Parent Admissions Network (APAN), Lynn helps recruit students to the school she loves by attending college fairs and interacting directly with prospective students. As a member of the Alumni Board Lynn helps shape policy and programming that keep fellow alumni informed and engaged. As a class reporter she is a vital conduit between SU and her classmates. While on the Alumni Board, she also served as the alumni representative on the University’s Board of Trustees from 1992-1997. Volunteering for Susquehanna University is second nature to Lynn as she noted that “I never thought about not doing it.”

Lynn also lends a hand in the community. The Snyder County Library Board recently welcomed her as a new member. Lynn, a retired guidance counselor from Piscataway High School in New Jersey, used her listening and coping techniques to help the American Red Cross during the January 1995 floods in Sacramento, Hurricane Floyd and other New Jersey disasters. After the World Trade Center tragedy, she was active in both Red Cross and Lutheran Disaster Response. As a volunteer with Lutheran Disaster Response, Lynn served as a consultant in a Lutheran Parochial school following Hurricane Andrew. After Hurricane Marilyn, she coordinated the efforts of LDR volunteers who worked to rehabilitate houses on St. Thomas. She also prepared for the arrival of volunteers in Puerto Rico for Hurricane Andrew.

Beyond her role as an effective volunteer Lynn is also setting an example through her giving. She is using several philanthropic methods to have a lasting impact at Susquehanna. She is one of the first alumni to take advantage of the IRA charitable distribution, made possible by the Pension Protection Act of 2006. “Of course I was going to take advantage of it!” Lynn is referring to the Act’s provision that permits individuals age 70 ½ and older to exclude Roth or traditional IRA distributions from taxable income as long as it is distributed directly to any charitable organization, like Susquehanna University.

Lynn is also a member of the Heritage Club, which recognizes donors who make an arrangement to provide for Susquehanna University through their estate planning. By making Susquehanna the beneficiary of a life insurance policy, Lynn is able to take the premium payments as a tax deduction. “An insurance policy is just another way of giving back to Susquehanna,” said Lynn. Lynn has also set up a scholarship in memory of her husband, Gilbert C. Askew ’61, insuring that his legacy will endure through the lives of SU students far into the future. We are grateful to Lynn and to others like her whose time, talent and treasure are sustaining the character of this very special University.

Susquehanna University has received a $40,000 commitment from the Merck Company Foundation of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. The grant will be used toward the purchase of a polarimeter and a preparative-scale high performance liquid chromatograph for the Department of Chemistry.

These items will significantly improve instruction in the organic chemistry portion of chemistry curriculum and support student faculty collaborative research. Organic chemistry is a two-semester sequence of courses taken by all Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Biology majors as well as most Earth and Environmental Science majors.

The polarimeter will be used by students to characterize samples isolated or synthesized in the Organic lab, allowing them to make connections between the lecture and laboratory components of the class. The instrument will also find use in the upper level inorganic and instrumental analysis courses, and in the research laboratory to determine the optical activity of new bioactive natural products isolated from rare plants.

A preparative scale HPLC system provides a means of rapidly and efficiently separating and purifying molecules, and has wide applications in chemistry and biochemistry. The instrument will be used routinely for the isolation and purification of organic molecules of biological interest from natural products.

The sciences at Susquehanna are distinguished by a commitment to teaching, collaborative student/faculty research, and hands-on interactive learning. The new and advanced science equipment made possible by Merck will provide faculty with the tools to engage students in “learning science by doing science.”

Previous support from the Merck Company Foundation includes funding for the University’s Science in Motion program, which brings advanced science instruction and instrumentation into secondary school classrooms in our communities, and the purchase of an atomic absorption spectrometer and an automated DNA sequencer that continue to benefit students and faculty participating in research at the Centralia mine fire.

With a generous gift that establishes two new scholarships and underscores his passion for history, W. Talbot Daley ’76 has decided to help history majors in a big way. Besides having a real passion for history, Tal was inspired when he read the SU Today story about the scholarship gifts that were awarded during Homecoming weekend. Barry and Denise Horton Jackson, graduates of the class of 1968, gave significant gifts to three unsuspecting students who were selected by President Jay Lemons with input from faculty.

These life-changing gifts inspired Tal to create a personally meaningful way to help build the futures of other deserving students. He wanted to encourage students who love history but who might face concerns about future employment or pressure from parents to choose another major. His belief in the importance of understanding history and in the value of the skills that history students perfect – critical reading, analytical thinking and writing – was strong enough to make him act. Tal has given Susquehanna a powerful tool to recruit and retain students who might have chosen another university or who might have abandoned their own passion to select a “safer” course of study.

A new freshman will be selected to receive the scholarship every year and funded throughout their four years of study. By the fourth year of this program, there will be four W. Talbot Daley scholars enrolled at the University. In addition to this annual scholarship, Tal has also pledged seed money for an endowed scholarship to be called the Donald D. Housley Scholarship Fund. Tal chose to honor his former history professor, Dr. Housley, who retired in 2004 after more than 35 years of shaping the lives of SU students. Tal wanted to recognize the significant contributions made by Dr. Housley to the understanding and appreciation of history.

In making his decision, Tal stated that he wanted “to help history majors pay for their education and to help keep a good, vibrant liberal arts education at Susquehanna.” Tal’s own success as senior vice president and director, Legg Mason Intellectual Capital Group in Baltimore proves that a history major can advance in business or any other field that he or she chooses to pursue. The first recipient of the W. Talbot Daley Scholarship Fund will benefit from Tal’s generosity in the fall of 2007.