Donohoe '87 created the Alice H. Richards Carolina Scholars Fund with a $250,000 gift to honor her mother, a benefactor to Carolina and her local community of Atlanta for years. Richards '94 donated $50,000 for a study abroad endowment in the College of Arts and Sciences. The fund will support annual study abroad awards for international studies majors.

"We are most grateful to Robin Donohoe and Laura Richards for their generosity and support of these important College priorities and for having a part in elevating the intellectual climate on campus," said Risa Palm, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "It's not often that we benefit from gifts of this significance from such young alumni."

Donohoe created the Carolina Scholars Fund because she wanted to help academically competitive students from out of state. The fund will provide four-year scholarship support to the most outstanding applicants from non-metropolitan Atlanta areas of Georgia.

"I grew up in a household that loved Carolina," Donohoe said. "My sister and I decided to attend UNC partly because of my mother's time there; she enjoyed the University so much. I wanted to do something that would create a lasting memory for her and tie it to Carolina."

The Laura Hudson Richards Study Abroad Fund will help the international studies program broaden and internationalize the education students receive, said Richard Soloway, senior associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. One third of all international studies majors are unable to study abroad because they cannot afford the high cost. The new fund will provide $2,500 a year for one student to study abroad. It will be awarded based on financial need and academic merit.

Richards' interest in studying abroad began while she was an international studies major at the University. "It is so important to see how others live and to appreciate the environment we've been given in which to grow," she said. "I wanted to create the fund to increase knowledge of other areas of the world. This will help students understand their dependence on the global community."

Richards now spends her summers leading tours in Holland, France, Spain and Italy for Vermont Bicycle Touring. The rest of the year she teaches English as a second language to refugees and immigrants in the United States. She also will serve on the University's international studies advisory board.

Donohoe, who majored in international studies at Carolina, received her master of business administration degree from Stanford University and is a partner in Draper International with Bill Draper, the father of venture capital in Silicon Valley. She started the Viva Foundation of San Francisco and recently established a scholarship fund at Stanford University.

Donohoe and the University's Arts and Sciences Foundation announced the new Carolina Scholars Fund on Mother's Day to show their gratitude for all Alice Richards has done for her children and the University.

Alice Richards '52 has supported Carolina's Arts and Sciences Foundation and Business Foundation and served on the Board of Visitors for the Kenan-Flagler Business School. She created the Roy and Alice H. Richards Bicentennial Professorship in Business Administration, the first chair to be endowed in the University's Bicentennial Campaign. She also has served on the board of directors for numerous organizations including Southwire Co., Emory University Council of Medicine, High Museum of Art and Tanner Medical Foundation.

"Our mother always gave back to the community and still does," Donohoe said. "We grew up in that environment, so it was natural for me and my sister to do the same."

by Sally Jones '99