The Chair of Williams’ Legacy Society shares her Williams journey.
The Ephraim Williams Society, Williams’ Legacy Society recognizes alumni, spouses, families and friends who have established planned gift arrangements with Williams or included the college in their estate plans. Membership in The Ephraim Williams Society is honorary with no gift minimum or proof of bequest intention required. All are welcome!
A Williams trustee since 2012 and, as of July 2023, the chair of the Ephraim Williams Society (EWS), Martha Williamson ’77 is president and CEO of MoonWater Productions, a production company specializing in family and inspirational entertainment. Martha is best known as the executive producer and head writer of “Touched By An Angel,” and she became the first woman to be solo executive producer on two shows simultaneously when she created and executive-produced “Promised Land,” also for CBS. Martha’s work has been inducted into the Television and Radio Hall of Fame and received a Producers Guild Nova Award and a Templeton Prize, as well as honors from the U. S. Congress, NAACP, and Anti-Defamation League.
A passionate supporter of the college, Martha founded the Williams Arts and Entertainment Fellowship with Peter Nelson ’76 in 1991, providing internships and support for students and graduates interested in arts careers, and she oversees the J. Lindley and Louise R. Williamson Scholarship Fund, established in 1995.
Martha lives in Southern California with her husband and their two daughters.
How did you get to Williams?
I attended a very large public high school in Denver in the early 70’s, just as the Women’s Liberation Movement was beginning to explode. I was a good student with a passion for theater, music, journalism, and women’s issues. One day, my American history teacher, a Princeton graduate, passed around a clipboard to sign up for interviews with the Princeton admissions officer. I put my name on the list and he scratched it off, growling and hissing that women don’t belong in Ivy League men’s schools.
A friend of mine who’d just done the whole eastern college tour said, “You know, Williams just went co-ed and of all the colleges I visited, they were the most serious and still somehow the nicest, too. You’d really like it there.” And when I met Phil Wick from admissions at Denver’s all-school college fair and I remember walking away thinking that my friend was right – Williams would offer me the highest standards of excellence and the highest example of kindness, not to mention the opportunity to, well, “climb as high and as far” as I could. I didn’t know it then, but that was my first glimpse of what Ephs like to call “The Williams Way.”
And what did that look like for you once you came to Williams?
Williams was everything I’d hoped for. It took some time to find my groove there, but Williams gave me the chance to figure it out. I graduated as an art history major who managed to spent most of her time rehearsing with the Ephlats in the Rathskeller or working on a Cap & Bells production in the Adams Memorial Theatre. It all came together in my senior year when I wrote and directed a musical incorporating Whit Stoddard’s Art 101 lectures into lyrics for songs composed by Marc Lichtman ’78. It was the beginning of what became my writing and producing career.
What happened when you graduated?
I made my way to Los Angeles where I knew a Williams grad who let me sleep on their pullout couch until I could get on my feet. And through the LA Alumni Association I met many more alums who offered me advice, support, and friendship, including one who gave me my first break in show business.
I met Felix Grossman ’56 there, who convinced me to make a promise for a multi-year pledge to Williams that at the time seemed impossible to fulfill. It was a big commitment for a recent grad just getting started but Felix said, “I know you’ll keep that promise, somehow. Because having made it, it’ll push you to work for something more than your own career. Keeping your promise to Williams will push you to keep your promise to yourself, too.” And he was right. I worked even harder to pay off that pledge. And the hard work paid off for me as well.
What drives your passion for Williams?
Making that first pledge to Williams was about more than Williams, it was about challenging myself. Felix wasn’t just asking for money. He was helping me believe in myself and in all that I had learned and finding a way to share that, because what happens in the Purple Valley does not stay in the Purple Valley. We graduate with a sort commission to carry that into the world somehow and make a difference. And we don’t do it alone. As the President of the Alumni Society finds a way to say every year at Commencement: “We’ve got your back.”
It’s not just about donating money, it’s about strengthening the ties that bind all of us with our time, our participation and our shared vision. And that vision extends beyond our own lives as Williams students to the lives of the ones that come along behind us.
What would you like to accomplish with legacy giving at Williams?
I’d like to break the stereotype that the word “legacy” so often invokes. Planned giving begins, as it did for me, whenever we make a decision to start finding ways to give back something of what we were given. It’s a wonderful feeling that shouldn’t be postponed until we start thinking about “getting old.” And those of us who actually are getting older are also getting smarter about thinking more broadly about things like bequests and trusts and surprisingly creative ways to help Williams prepare for the future.
When I accepted the position as chair I was delighted to discover how uncomplicated the process of leaving something to Williams can be and how tremendously thoughtful and experienced our legacy staff is. They make it easy to talk about and they surprise you with how little it takes to become a member of Ephraim Williams Society.
Let’s face it, thinking about a legacy gift means leaving something behind “when we go.” And it’s so easy to put off thoughts of “someday.” But when I walk across campus and experience the passion of our students, the excellence of our faculty, and the wisdom of our leadership, I feel a deep sense of peace, knowing that the legacy commitment I’ve made today makes me a part of all that has come before and a living promise to all that Williams will be.
Williams would be delighted to have you join Martha in The Williams Legacy Society and there are lots of ways to become a member. You can include Williams in your will or trust, name Williams as the beneficiary of a retirement account or life insurance policy, or create a life income gift such as a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder trust. More information about all these planning options can be found at our gift planning website or you can contact our Gift Planning staff at 413-597-3538 or by email at [email protected]
Estate Planning’s Practically Spiritual Benefits
An Interview with Class Gift Planning Chair Jason Poling ’94
What about your Williams experience seems most meaningful in retrospect?
What’s been most meaningful for me has been the relationships that I’ve developed with Williams people—classmates and professors from my time on campus, of course, but also fellow alumni that I’ve gotten to know through my regional association. I’m also glad to have lasting friendships with alums I met as students the half-dozen times I went back to campus as a guest speaker.
What have you been up to between your graduation from Williams and now?
Upon graduating I threw myself into campaign politics, which I quickly learned was not a good field for me to be in. After a few temp jobs and a too-close-for-comfort brush with law school, I discovered a calling to ministry. I have been a pastor for over 15 years now, and I have the privilege of serving the church I helped to plant in 2003.
What made you decide to volunteer for Williams gift planning program?
I’m grateful to be part of the Williams community, and I want to make as meaningful a contribution as I can to this unique institution. I’ve been an associate agent for over 10 years and I was happy to respond to the Development Office’s invitation to serve as the Class of 1994’s gift planning chair.
Why did you take the step of making your own planned gift commitment to the college?
When my wife and I drew up our will, I knew I wanted to include Williams as a beneficiary. My parents and grandparents included the college where they all met their spouses (Ohio Wesleyan University) in their wills—so I had good examples to follow. My family isn’t wealthy, but you don’t have to be to have a special relationship with a worthy institution.
What would you tell a skeptical classmate who thinks she’s too young to think about gift planning, particularly bequest planning?
First off, I’ll say as a pastor that you will be doing the people who love you a huge favor by having things in order (not only a will but an advance medical directive) so that in the event of an untimely accident, the grief they experience will not be compounded by the difficulties involved in determining (and/or arguing over) what your interests are.
But I’d also say that even if you think Williams would be lucky to buy a sub at Pappa Charlie’s with a percentage of your residual assets, you’re making a statement about your lifelong commitment to this place we all treasure so much. Who knows? You may end up doing very well financially—or, your commitment may inspire somebody else to do the same, and that person will turn out to be very successful and very generous. Later in life, of course, all sorts of complicated estate planning may be necessary, and congratulations to you if you need it. But when you’re starting out, all you need is a very simple will and it’s very easy to make sure Williams is included in it.
“Williams stands for the right things and does the right things.”
James B. Blume ’63 and Kathryn W. Frank
For Jim Blume, giving to Williams is a matter of the heart. “In general it’s hard for me to get excited about supporting an institution of any kind, but Williams is an amazing collection of people who’ve significantly enriched my life.”
Those people range from his former professors, James MacGregor Burns ’39 and Warren Ilchman, to his late classmate Tom Frank, whose sister Kathryn is Jim’s wife. They also include dozens of fellow students he met as Kappa Alpha president, Purple Key secretary, Gul business manager, Junior Advisor, as a member of Gargoyle and the Civil Rights Committee, and as class president. And he’s continued to nourish his extended Williams family as class secretary, associate agent, and on the 50th Reunion Fund Committee.
Jim also learned early on that “Williams stands for the right things and does the right things.” He came to believe in Williams’ values when, as president of the Intrafraternity Council, he worked with and admired people like President Jack Sawyer ’39 and trustee Talcott Banks ’28 through the challenges of phasing out fraternities.
An accomplished investment manager who graduated from Harvard Business School, Jim also has a doctorate in psychology, so his understanding of philanthropy spans the practical as well as the emotional. “Making my own 50th Reunion gift through a combination of outright and charitable remainder unitrust gifts helps me do what I want to do for Williams, while at the same time creating an income stream that helps secure future support for my wife, Kathryn.”
While the benefits of making a life-income gift are clear, Jim says the charitable impulse comes first: “I have a deeply held philosophy engendered by my father that I’ve been fortunate, and it is critically important to me to give back.”(Giftwise Spring 2013)
Profiles in Giving: Frieda Jacobs and Frederic Klein P’06, ’11
Frieda’s affection for Williams began as a child when she joined her parents and her father Stuart’s Class of 1945 pals at annual Amherst game tailgating parties. Fred became a fan when their son entered Williams in 2002. By the time their daughter graduated in 2011, Frieda and Fred had twice served as co-chairs of the Parents Fund, attended many Williams events, and hosted two Chicago area send-off parties for incoming freshmen.
Declaring themselves “truly blessed that both our kids had the opportunity to live and grow in the purple bubble,” Frieda and Fred have now elevated Williams to “family” status by leaving their own legacy to Williams. “The opportunities that our children enjoyed, on campus and off, were all made possible by the generous support of generations of loyal alumni and their families. It gives us great pleasure to be able to continue our family’s support through our estate plan, knowing that Williams will continue to provide the best liberal arts education for generations to come.”(Giftwise Fall 2012)
A Bicentennial Medalist Remembers Williams in His Estate Plans
Professor S. Lane Faison Jr. ’29 (1907-2006) was a Williams legend and a national treasure. Among the most influential art educators of the 20th century, he taught several generations of America’s leading museum directors, curators and scholars.
Led by his son, Gordon ’60, Lane’s family is ensuring that his legend lives on. In honor of Gordon’s 50th Reunion this past June, Gordon and his wife El created a deferred gift annuity to add to an endowment Lane and his wife Virginia had earlier established also through a deferred gift in support of the Art Department and the Williams College Museum of Art.
Gordon and El’s gift, together with outright gifts from other family members, further enhanced this endowment by establishing The S. Lane Faison, Jr. ’29 Prize, which will be awarded to the student whose paper best reflects his high standards in the critical engagement with an object of art. “We’ve made these gifts to further memorialize my father, to stimulate writing of art criticism, and to enjoy some of the results in our lifetimes,” says Gordon. “Doing so through a deferred gift annuity will also provide us with funds later on, should we need them.”(Giftwise Fall 2010)
How Connected is Bill Ryan ’62 to Williams?
Let us count the ways: Father of Kathy Ryan-Gidman ’90 and Jim ’92, Bill has served as president of the Executive Committee of the Society of Alumni, class treasurer, six stints as class secretary. Four of his math students at an inner-city school in Hartford, Conn., ending up as students at his alma mater.
When Bill signed on as editor of the big reunion book for ’62’s upcoming 50th, he decided to go all out and visit as many of his classmates as possible, encouraging them to write great pieces of their own and collecting particularly tasty tidbits to enliven the book-at-large.
“I began my travels in January 2005 with a visit to NYC and Elaine Stainton, widow of Ollie Banks. My last visit was to Sage Wightman and Dave Kieffer in St. Louis in the autumn of 2010.” With his wife Bonnie often beside him, Bill clocked more than 50,000 miles through 34 states, traveling by car, train, and plane (“even boat!” he claims). In the end he visited a full two thirds of his class, 155 classmates and six widows through what was “truly, the trip of a lifetime. Probably the most important realization I came to,” says Bill, “was that there are wonderful people in our class, most of whom I did not know very well during my college years.” Ryan hopes his classmates will use Reunion Weekend 2012 not only to catch up with old friends but make new ones as well.
When it came time to consider a 50th Reunion gift, Bill (who also serves as 50th Reunion fund vice-chair) and Bonnie worked with their financial advisor Rick Berry ’63 and Williams’ Gift Planning Office on a strategy that met their philanthropic and financial needs. When they created a charitable gift annuity, they made a tax-wise gift that provides them with income and capital gains tax savings today and a steady income for life. Their gift will ultimately support financial aid and global initiatives at the college, both of which are Class of 1962 50th Reunion gift purposes.ting of art criticism, and to enjoy some of the results in our lifetimes,” says Gordon. “Doing so through a deferred gift annuity will also provide us with funds later on, should we need them.” (Giftwise Spring 2011)
A Bicentennial Medalist Remembers Williams in His Estate Plans
Fresh from Williams, John Raynolds ’51 served in the KoreanWar as a diver in the Navy Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) that was the first to develop a system for delivering UDT swimmers from a fast-moving helicopter—an operation that led to the development of the famous U.S. Navy SEALs. That transforming experience, and a lifelong devotion to mountaineering and backpacking, developed in John a passion for experiential education— learning by doing. For 10 years he served as president and CEO of Outward Bound U.S.A., which under his leadership more than quadrupled its students per year and launched programs for urban populations and public schools. John’s efforts gave rise to what is now an entire industry of outdoor education, helping students of all ages to develop character, self-confidence, and a sense of service.
The author of two books on volunteer service—The Halo Effect and Beyond Success: How Volunteer Service Can Help You Begin Making a Life Instead of Just a Living (the latter co-written with his late wife Eleanor)—John has served as trustee of A Better Chance and the National Peace Garden Foundation and on the advisory board of Harvard’s J.F.K. School of Government. Always one to practice what he preaches, John has taken more than 40 Outward Bound trips of his own and has run six New York City Marathons with disabled runners.
For these and other life accomplishments,Williams awarded John Raynolds a 2009 Bicentennial Medal—the College’s highest honor for distinguished achievement. “Williams to me has been a life-long gift,” he said (in remarks that can be viewed on video at http://alumni.williams.edu/convocation2009medals). John added that at Williams “we’re steeped in the tradition of helping others.” By including Williams in his own estate plans, John is continuing that tradition by helping future generations of Williams students.
Williams’ future has never been brighter
“The guiding principal of both of our families has been the importance of education to the development of the individual and the institutions of the world. Williams has been a critical part of this principal for our family for over 50 years and is now in the process of educating the third generation. Under the stewardship of Morty Schapiro, who arrived in Williamstown at the same time we met and fell in love, we believe that Williams’ future has never been brighter. We are happy to provide financial support to Williams and are thrilled that our children are learning the majesty of the purple valley.” – Liz ’83 and Todd ’83 Krieg, P’08,’10,’13
A Couple’s 25th Reunion Commitment
“With our 25th Reunion approaching,we thought long and hard about how to show our support for Williams.We considered funding a Charitable Gift Annuity that would return a stream of payments to us in our retirement. It looked appealing—Williams knows what it’s doing financially, and it seemed a secure way to lock in some fixed income. After consulting with our tax person, however, we realized that an outright gift (100 percent deductible this year) was the better route for us.We’re so pleased to be able to support Williams and delighted to know that there are options to meet donors’ different needs.”
—Jim Steggall ’83 and Mary Beard Steggall ’83, Parents of Haley ’11
“Williams Friendships Are Like Family!”
Nancy and Ted Cobden, both widowed after long marriages, delighted their many Williams friends when they were married in 2005. Nancy’s first husband, Robinson D. Wright, had been Ted’s classmate and fraternity brother.
“After Rob died I put Williams in my will, and as the 50th Reunion approached, I wanted to make another gift. A charitable gift annuity made sense. I used some appreciated stock to fund the annuity, saved some taxes, and now I will receive income for my lifetime. My gift was made in honor of Ted and to memorialize Rob. I believe in Williams. It is a fabulous educational institution.” — Nancy Cobden H’57
“Since retiring from active service as a priest in the Episcopal Church, I have been able to return to Williams for reunions and to meet the ’57 Scholars. I have seen the bright, well-rounded students who graduate from Williams. They are impressive! I, too, used appreciated stock to fund a charitable gift annuity that provides me with some needed income. With Williams also in my will, I feel very satisfied with my philanthropic commitment to Williams.” —Ted Cobden ’57
An Honorary Alumna’s 50th Reunion Annuity
Sally Love H’58 established a Williams Charitable Gift Annuity to support the Class of 1958 Scholarships. Why the scholarship gift? “Because my late husband Jack was a Tyng Scholar. Had Jack been alive for his 50th, I know he would have directed his gift to scholarships.” Jack chose Williams over Dartmouth and Princeton because of the Tyng Scholarship, which covered three years of his medical school tuition. (Sally worked to pay for his books and weekly lab-coat cleanings.) And why a gift annuity? “Because the income will come in handy,” replies Sally. “I am still working, but plan to retire at the end of this year when I turn 71.” A Mt. Holyoke alumna who dated Jack through college, Sally hopes to attend 1958’s 50th this June, where she hopes to run into old friends like Phyllis Freeman, who married Jack’s classmate, Don. — Sally Love H’58
It’s “all in the family” for the Austells — the Williams family, that is
The recipient of a Tyng Scholarship, which provided a great incentive for him to come to Williams, Rhett majored in English and history and was editor of the Record. “I am grateful for that scholarship, for the splendid education Williams gave me, and for the friends with whom I have shared time in that Berkshire Valley. What an uplifting, resonating force Williams has been in our lives!” he says.
“Despite my personal interest in having Williams offer generous scholarship aid, I feel strongly that the College administration and trustees are in the best position to pinpoint those needs and those points of leverage that enable Williams to continue offering the superb liberal arts education it does.” To aid the College in its endeavors, Rhett has designated Williams as a one of the beneficiaries of an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). These funds will come to the College as unrestricted dollars. The IRA was Rhett’s gift arrangement of choice because of the “double” tax benefit of using an IRA to make charitable gifts ¾ exemption from estate and income tax. By including Williams in his estate plans, Rhett is helping the ever-widening Williams family in the “pursuit of intellectual excellence.”
It’s “all in the family” for the Austells — the Williams family, that is. R. Rhett Austell, Jr., his brother, son, daughter, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, granddaughter and grandson, among other members of his family, are all Ephs. And Rhett is the first to acknowledge, “I owe Williams a great deal. If the ‘family’ alumni doesn’t support the institution, who will?” — R. Rhett Austell Jr.’48
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