{"id":8909,"date":"2014-05-22T13:26:03","date_gmt":"2014-05-22T17:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/?p=8909"},"modified":"2014-05-27T11:13:52","modified_gmt":"2014-05-27T15:13:52","slug":"making-it-possible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/?p=8909","title":{"rendered":"Making it possible"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Barbara
Barbara Meyers Pelson \u201959<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Barbara Meyers Pelson \u201959 will help ensure that future students and faculty have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of collaborative, sophisticated research opportunities through the establishment of The Barbara Meyers Pelson \u201959 Chair in Faculty-Student Engagement. Her $1 million gift has funded TCNJ\u2019s first endowed chair, and it is unique in the way that it supports faculty-student research collaborations.<\/p>\n

In 1955, Pelson came as a freshman to what was known then as New Jersey State Teachers College at Trenton to study education and music. She found great friends and instructors in \u201ca warm and caring environment.\u201d After many years in which she taught school, raised her family with her husband and moved where his work took them, they returned to New Jersey.<\/p>\n

In the \u201990s, Pelson reconnected to her school, which felt as welcoming as the one she had left, and was thrilled when she was invited by then-President Harold Eickhoff to serve on the College\u2019s Foundation Board. \u201cI am grateful to Dr. Eickhoff in that I have great respect for his vision for the College,\u201c Pelson says. In 1997, the governor appointed her to the College\u2019s Board of Trustees, where she served through 2013. She now has returned to the Foundation Board. Having worked with two presidents and many faculty and students over the years, Pelson says she admires the values within the institution that create its excellence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came to understand the commitment, the dedication, the pride in the College. It was very contagious. It comes down to what we have here: an extraordinary faculty and outstanding students,\u201d Pelson says. \u201cI have the highest regard for President Gitenstein\u2019s leadership. The College is recognized nationally\u2014that\u2019s quite an accomplishment. I am confident that the College will continue to be exemplary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelson\u2019s only regret about the gift is that her late husband, Victor, is not here to share these moments with her, as they talked together at great length about giving to the College. \u201cBoth my husband and I grew up in Irvington, N.J. We both felt very indebted to public education. I chose my school because of its reputation as a great teaching college, its beautiful campus and its affordability.\u201d<\/p>\n

She would like to acknowledge that it was through her husband\u2019s success at Western Electric and AT&T that she is able to give this gift. \u201cIt\u2019s an important part of my story,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a legacy that I would hope other alums would think about in whatever way they can,\u201d she says. \u201cThe intent is about the feeling between the student and the professor. Some people talk about giving back\u2014but I feel that I\u2019m giving a gift that goes onward<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A $1 million gift from Barbara Meyers Pelson \u201959 will support faculty-student engagement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":285,"featured_media":8911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spring-2014","category-on-campus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/285"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}