The University at Albany Foundation has announced that this 1996-97 year will be the first where a descendant of a Milne High School teacher or graduate will receive a $500 Dr. Theodore H. Fossieck Scholarship to attend the University at Albany.

The scholarship was set up through the generosity of its namesake, the principal emeritus at the campus’ laboratory school for the preparation of secondary school teachers from 1947 to 1973. A member of the University’s Heritage Circle Society, Fossieck was given the Citizen of the University Award by the Alumni Association in 1994.

He chose to fund the scholarship in honor of the teachers and students who formed the heart of the University’s experimental school, which was in operation from 1852 to 1977 (and named in honor of University President John Milne in 1929). Their results were impressive. “Those students exhibited a rare degree of adaptability — often working with as many as 40 student teachers and supervisors, plus dozens of observers during a school year,” said Fossieck.

“Their interest, imagination and diligence resulted in their being accepted by some of the most prestigious post-secondary schools, and their subsequent exemplary achievement in the worlds of medicine, industry, and education.”

Fossieck, second only to John M. Sayles in terms of service years as the laboratory school’s principal, also endows the Janice Dorr Fossieck and Theodore H. Fossieck Fund, which provides an annual lecture and library resources in the field of Colonial America. A member of the Friends of the Libraries, he has been a secretary of its board of directors.

A retired colonel in military intelligence with 30 years of active and reserve duty to his credit and many military decorations including the Bronze Star, Fossieck holds a doctorate and a master’s degree from the Teachers College of Columbia University in educational administration.

An endowment of $150,000 has been received from the estate of Dorothy A. McGinniss ’32, who left her entire estate to the University to establish an endowment to support the School of Information Science and Policy.

This contribution will be the largest private donation to the that area of University scholarship, and will provide support for students, expanded educational programs, and research in the field. Her named will be associated with the School in perpetuity.

Ms. McGinniss, who died on Jan. 1 of this year at her home in Port Charlotte, Fla., had a rewarding career as a librarian and later as a professor at Syracuse University. She was active the University’s Alumni Association and served as secretary of the West Central Florida alumni chapter.

Susanna Fessler of the Department of East Asian Studies has received a $20,000 grant from the Japan Foundation earmarked for the purchase of Japanese books for the University Libraries.

Bruce B. Gravitt, in memory of his wife, a 1938 graduate, has established the Bruce B. and Louise Steen Gravitt Endowment for scholarship support for female students majoring in mathematics. “Through proceeds of a charitable trust of $25,000, the endowment becomes an enormous contributor to our Initiatives for Women project,” said Sorrell Chesin, associate vice president for University Advancement.

Mrs. Gravitt, who majored in mathematics at the then New York State College For Teachers, passed away in December 1993.