Edited by Frank R. Shaw, FSA Scot, Greater Atlanta, GA, USA
Email: jurascot@earthlink.net
US couple donates £170,000 for Robert Burns
research (STV News- 16 Jan 2020))
An American couple has donated more than
£170,000 to studies of Robert Burns in Scotland.
Frank and Susan Shaw, from Atlanta, Georgia, have given $225,000
(£171,000) to Glasgow University’s Centre for Robert Burns Studies.
The couple fund a scholarship at the centre and the donation is the
latest in a series of financial gifts to the university.
In a joint statement, the couple said: “We are lucky to have built a
great friendship with the team at the Centre for Robert Burns Studies.
“It has been wonderful to be part of supporting the great scholarship
and educational excellence of the work being undertaken on Burns in
Glasgow.
“Our latest gift seeks to support the continued research excellence in
this field and help ensure new scholars in Burns studies are also
supported in their work.”
Mr Shaw, who runs a website on Scotland’s National Bard titled Robert
Burns Lives!, maintains a keen interest in his Scottish heritage.
The healthcare company owner can trace his ancestry to Jura and is a
past president of the St Andrews Society of Atlanta.
His wife is a former corporate secretary at the Coca-Cola Company.
Professor Gerard Carruthers, co-director of the Centre for Robert Burns
Studies, said: “The huge generosity of the Shaw family enables both
support for younger scholars and the advancement of cutting-edge
research in Burns.”
https://news.stv.tv/west-central/us-couple-donates-170000-for-robert-burns-research
DONATION WILL HELP CONTINUE RESEARCH INTO
SCOTLAND’S NATIONAL BARD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
Issued: Thu, 16 Jan 2020 09:00:00 GMT by Glasgow University
A philanthropic American couple have gifted a quarter of a million
dollars to the home of the largest concentration of Robert Burns experts
in the world, it was announced today (Thursday 16 January 2020).
The $225,000 gift from Frank and Susan Shaw of Atlanta is to the
University of Glasgow’s Centre for Robert Burns Studies.
The Shaws are enthusiastic supporters of the scholarship of Scotland’s
national bard and the gift is the latest in a series of donations to the
University.
Mr and Mrs Shaw said: “We are lucky to have built a great friendship
with the team at the Centre for Robert Burns Studies.
“It has been wonderful to be part of supporting the great scholarship
and educational excellence of the work being undertaken on Burns in
Glasgow.
“Our latest gift seeks to support the continued research excellence in
this field and help ensure new scholars in Burns Studies are also
supported in their work.”
Mr Shaw, who is a past president of the St Andrew’s Society of Atlanta,
can trace his ancestry to the Scottish island of Jura and runs a website
on Scotland’s national bard called Robert Burns Lives!
Mrs Shaw, a native Atlantan, retired in 2002 from The Coca-Cola Company
as Corporate Secretary after 35 years.
Professor Gerard Carruthers, Co-Director of the Centre for Robert Burns
Studies based at the University’s College of Arts, said: “The huge
generosity of the Shaw family enables both support for younger scholars
and the advancement of cutting-edge research in Burns.
“We are very grateful for both the moral and material support of Frank
and Susan - they are our passionate friends and collaborators who make a
big difference to us and our students.”
Professor Roibeard O Maolalaigh, Vice-Principal and Head of the College
of Arts at the University of Glasgow, said: “We are extremely grateful
to Frank and Susan Shaw for their continued support of the Centre for
Robert Burns Studies.
“It recognises the importance of the outstanding scholarship on
Scotland’s national bard being provided by the University of Glasgow.”
The Centre for Robert Burns Studies was established in July 2007. Its
mission is the development of research, scholarship and teaching in the
area of Robert Burns, his cultural period and related literature.
Born in 1759, Robert Burns’ poems and songs have been translated into
every major language, and his influence has extended far beyond
Scotland. A recent report by Professor Murray Pittock of the Centre for
Robert Burns Studies called Robert Burns and the Scottish economy said
the bard's economic and cultural importance to the Scottish economy is
now estimated to be £203 million annually and the bard’s brand is worth
£139.5 million a year. |