Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit

Alumna to donate $1 million to SU’s School of Information Studies; high-tech learning center named for her mother

Friday, October 27, 2006, By News Staff
Share

Alumna to donate $1 million to SU’s School of Information Studies; high-tech learning center named for her motherOctober 27, 2006Margaret Costello Spillettmcostell@syr.edu

Today, thanks to the Internet and digital archives, library and information science is virtually boundless. So the students studying to become information professionals in the 21st century must branch out from traditional librarianship into the technologically evolving world of digital librarianship, information management, and network and telecommunications management. To ensure that this new breed of information managers has access to the latest technology and resources, alumna and former librarian Estelle K. Wilhelm ’38, G’39 (above) is donating $1 million to Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies.

Wilhelm will present the check to Dean Raymond F. von Dran during a ceremony at 2 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 30, in Room 347 of Hinds Hall. Chancellor Nancy Cantor will acknowledge the gift through a plaque and membership into the Chancellor’s Council, a special designation given to high-level supporters of the University.

In recognition of the gift — the largest in the school’s history — a collaborative classroom and adjoining computer lab in Hinds Hall will be named in honor of Wilhelm’s mother. The Katherine Katchmar Learning Center will feature a 1,210-foot classroom that seats 50 students and an adjoining 790-foot computer lab with 24 learning stations. It will be located on the ground floor next to the three-story atrium and student lounge. The classroom is designed around a theory of student-focused, interactive learning that changes the classroom process into a collaborative search for solutions based on a case.

The naming gift supports the school’s Technology Endowment Campaign for Hinds Hall (TECHH), which funds the maintenance of technology equipment within the school’s classrooms and labs. Money raised for the TECHH fund will ensure that the school is properly equipped with the latest advances in technology and related learning tools.

At Syracuse University, Wilhelm received a bachelor’s degree in Latin and a master’s degree in library science. Over the course of her career, she worked as a librarian in locations as varied as Endicott (N.Y.), Philadelphia, New York City and, most memorably, Cape Lookout, a part of the National Seashore in North Carolina. There, she was given a $500-a-month allowance to purchase new books for the government post library, although she recalls her accommodations at the time had no running water or electricity.

Wilhelm says she sees the gift as a way to pay tribute to her mother, “a great believer in education,” and to the institution that set her on an enjoyable career path as a librarian. She will travel from her home in Gillette, N.J., to be part of the celebration.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • NYSCA Grants Awarded to 5 Faculty, 2 Organizations
    Thursday, November 30, 2023, By Diane Stirling
  • $3M Awarded to Hydronic Shell Technologies to Pilot New Building Technology in Syracuse
    Thursday, November 30, 2023, By Emma Ertinger
  • Bedrock of Success: Female Earth and Environmental Sciences Scholars Carry on a Legacy of Mentorship
    Thursday, November 30, 2023, By Dan Bernardi
  • Maxwell Professor Contributes to Wilson Center Report on China’s Foreign Economic Policy
    Thursday, November 30, 2023, By News Staff
  • The Hon. James E. Baker Appointed to US Department of Justice Data Protection Review Court
    Thursday, November 30, 2023, By Robert Conrad

More In Uncategorized

Syracuse Views Fall 2023

We want to know how you experience Syracuse University. Take a photo and share it with us. We select photos from a variety of sources. Submit photos of your University experience using #SyracuseU on social media, fill out a submission…

University’s NCAE-C Designation Renews Through 2028

Syracuse University has been designated once again as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) through the academic year 2028. The program is administered by the National Security Agency (NSA) with a goal of promoting and supporting quality…

Law professor available to discuss ruling that Trump committed fraud for business properties

Reporters looking for a legal expert to help explain the issues facing the Trump businesses after a judge ruled  that former President Donald Trump committed fraud by inflating the value of his assets, please see comments below from legal professor…

Syracuse Views Spring 2023

We want to know how you experience Syracuse University. Take a photo and share it with us. We select photos from a variety of sources. Submit photos of your University experience using #SyracuseU on social media, fill out a submission…

Awards of Excellence Honoree: Maxwell has Been ‘a Guiding Hand’ in Public Service Career

Standing before an audience of fellow Maxwell School alumni gathered in Washington, D.C., for the second annual Maxwell Awards of Excellence, CNN anchor Boris Sanchez ’09 shared the motivation behind his work as a journalist. Sanchez emigrated from Cuba as…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.