- John H. Morton and Rachel M. (England) Morton ’66
When Rachel M. (England) Morton ’66 and her husband, John H. Morton ’66, met as undergraduates, the campus was a small school on the cusp of explosive growth in construction, enrollment, and operating budgets. Their graduating class totaled 1,800, compared with 4,600 expected to graduate in May 2009.
Despite the span of 43 years, both classes have much in common. The Mortons’ student days (they were both math majors) were marked by construction projects that changed the campus landscape: Orchard Hill and the Southwest residential halls, Franklin Dining Commons, and the football stadium. The campus now is undergoing another reshaping: new science, nursing, and studio arts buildings, recreation center, and Central Heating Plant.
What has remained constant is that UMass Amherst is an affordable option for smart students with wide horizons and limited financial resources. As was true four decades ago, a UMass Amherst education provides the underpinnings for successful careers.
In John Morton’s case, he rose to the top of the legal world where he was a senior partner in the 400-lawyer firm of Boston-based Hale and Dorr (now Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr). A working mom at the beginning of the women’s rights movement, Rachel Morton is in charge of computer software and hardware for the nearly 200 faculty, researchers, and students in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s nuclear science and engineering department.
The Mortons met in a mathematics class. She hailed from Fitchburg and he grew up in Maine and came to campus after four years in the U.S. Marine Corps. “I think that no matter what career I chose, my UMass Amherst education would have prepared me very well,” says Rachel. John agrees. “I was never disappointed. UMass Amherst was a wonderful experience. I can’t imagine otherwise getting the opportunity for an education.”
So strong is the Mortons’ belief in UMass Amherst that they have named the campus a beneficiary of an individual retirement account with market value of nearly $500,000. The gift will supplement an existing endowed scholarship fund that they established many years ago.
Both Rachel and John Morton confessed to being publicity shy about their gift. They are talking about it to inspire others to consider giving to campus. In the future, they hope, the gift will help make their alma mater accessible to families who think a college education is out of reach. “There are incredibly bright young people out there who can’t get the premium education they deserve,” notes John.
With the new donation, the Rachel and John Morton Honors Scholarship fund will be able to make more awards to students in Commonwealth College who need financial assistance. The gift is what is known as a planned gift. This means that the Mortons can withdraw funds from the IRA during their lifetimes but avoid hefty estate and income taxes upon their deaths by donating funds from it to UMass Amherst. “Our intention is not to draw down on the principal. We hope the fund will appreciate over time. If history is any indicator, we expect that there will be a substantial gift,” says John.
The Mortons’ gift stems from their personal experiences as thrifty undergraduates who struggled to pay tuition. Rachel Morton worked 40 hours a week in a local hospital her senior year in high school to save money for UMass Amherst. John worked odd jobs and taught math in Stockbridge School of Agriculture to pay his way. When John looks back at his law career and his work as an investor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, he says simply, “I know that I would not have made it without some scholarship help.”
For John, a bit of help at UMass Amherst had far-reaching returns. He is an international expert on trade with China and Russia. He was very involved in the business and political transitions during the breakup of the Soviet Union and the opening of trade with China in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Among his many ventures were three 2,000-mile tours—involving leading executives of Fortune 500 Companies—of manufacturing facilities along the Volga-Don industrial heartland of what is now Russia.
John and Rachel live in a 241-year-old house they bought in 1969 as a fixer-upper. They raised their two sons, now aged 37 and 27, in a home filled with books, permeated by a sense of history. Rachel says they prefer the real-world feel of Stoughton, with a population of about 27,000 and 30 minutes from Boston, as compared with affluent communities where many of their peers live.
“We’ve always lived a simple life,” John muses. “We’ve got a big woodpile out back that we use to heat this house and a backyard with a vegetable garden and compost pile.”
