In 2005, Estelle Wilhelm donated $500 to the School of Information Studies after receiving a Christmas card from her alma mater, and promised to send more in the future.

Eight years later, after she died, she made good on her promise, donating half of her estate to the school in her will.

The $7 million donation is the largest gift the iSchool has ever received, seven times the amount of the second largest donation ever made to the school — which Wilhelm also gave, in 2006.

She graduated from the School of Information Studies in 1939 from its master of library science program and went on to become a librarian for the remainder of her life, working in libraries across the country.

Previously, Wilhelm donated $1 million to the iSchool in 2006, a gift that led to the naming of the Katherine Katchmar Learning Center — a laboratory and a classroom, in memory of her mother.

“She came back for that naming and had a really wonderful time during that visit,” said Scott Barrett, the school’s assistant dean of advancement. “A lot of people who were here and spent time with her that day talked about the great joy she had.”

Barrett said with her recent donation, the social lounge in Hinds Hall will likely be named after Wilhelm.

He added that Wilhelm’s donation was expected after her death, but he never knew the amount. The school only found out last week that the amount would be $7 million, said J.D. Ross, director of communications at the iSchool.

“The magnitude was very much a surprise. We had no indicator of how much she wanted to donate,” he said.

Originally, Elizabeth Liddy, dean of the iSchool, expected $2.5 million to be donated to the school from Wilhelm’s will.

A million dollars of the total amount will be put into a Tech Endowment, which will be sustained to create income for investments to improve technology in iSchool classrooms, Barrett said.

The fund will generate about $40,000 a year for the school to use, Liddy said. Barrett also added the iSchool will decide how to spend the rest of the money, something that is still undetermined. Liddy will consult different members of the school’s community, such as faculty, students and other deans, to decide.

“We’re going to be strategic, we’re going to go in a little bit slow and take a lot of input from people,” she said. “I think a lot of it will be reinvestment in ourselves and our faculty and our students and the opportunity we offer here.”

She said she is excited about the donation, as it gives the iSchool the opportunity to expand and grow even further, with the financial ability to “leapfrog” the programs for the school. She added that because the program is already financially stable, the donation will provide an even stronger advantage for the future.

“When she was here, she had a wonderful smile, she was very happy to be able to give back, she was very generous,” Liddy said. She said she would’ve wanted Wilhelm to know that her donation will be used to reach the goals that Wilhelm admired about the school.

Barrett said the iSchool was lucky to have a “fortuitous” response to a Christmas card, which is sent out to all of the school’s alumni every year. He hopes the donation’s effects will be transformational in the future.

Said Barrett: “I hope it inspires others. I hope it plants the seed that you can give in this way and make really extraordinary gifts. Certainly well beyond anything you might imagine you can do during your lifetime. It reminds people that the iSchool is worthy of very significant support.”

Published on October 22, 2013 at 1:31 am

Contact Alfred: alng@syr.edu

@alfredwkng