While earning a bachelor’s degree in science, Dot Gavin earned her room and board for two years by serving as the live-in cook for Edna Skinner, founder of the study of home economics at the then Massachusetts State College. Also in residence was Dr. Maria Gutowska, a Polish scientist and refugee. Skinner treated them both as family. “Every night the dinner conversation was a spirited discussion of ideas and world events,” Dot remembers. “I mostly listened.”

Dot’s plans to become a county extension agent were put on hold while she got married and had three children and later to support the career of her husband, Joseph, president of the Grumman Aerospace Corporation. He led the team that built the Apollo lunar module in the 1960s. Dot made her mark as a tireless civic leader and volunteer, slowing down only to successfully recover from a brain tumor. Thirteen years ago she and her husband moved to a South Amherst retirement community, allowing her to reconnect with the campus and visit frequently.

The Gavins established the Edna Skinner Legacy Fund with an endowment for the start of the Center for the Family (now the Center for Research on Families). Within that center, with another endowment, they established the Tay Gavin Erickson Lecture Series. Named for their late daughter, the series brings nationally recognized family research speakers to the campus each year.

Recently they have established a gift annuity. “In view of the uncertainties of the future, we liked the idea of an annuity giving us a guaranteed return for the rest of our lives, with what’s left ending where we designate,” says Dot. “With our money, we’re planting the seed for the future . . . to help educational programs grow.”