When Donald “Don” August ’64, P’01 first stepped foot on College Hill, he knew he was going to get a world-class education at Brown. What he didn’t expect was how formative that education would be in shaping both his personal and professional paths.

Javette Pinkney Laremont ’80, recalls her first visit to Brown as “magical.” The warm and inviting campus, the diverse faculty, and the vast possibilities offered by the Open Curriculum — she knew Brown was a special place.

Leonilda Gervasi graduated from Pembroke College in Brown University in 1921, and her legacy continues today on College Hill. Born near Naples, Italy, she was the first woman in her family to attend college.

“We have made yearly gifts to the Brown Annual Fund since we graduated. We are lucky people and Brown contributed a lot to our luck.”

After the passing of Morton Gurtin PhD’61, P’82, GP’13 in early 2022, the Gurtin family came together to decide the best way to honor him and their shared legacy at Brown.

As big changes were happening in China in 1949, Richard Yen ’53 and his family moved across the world with one suitcase each.

David Chiang ’97 and Vannita Simma-Chiang ’98 both came to Brown hoping to find a community of thinkers and doers that would challenge them to figure out how best to make change in the world

In 2008, the late Professor Emeritus Walter Feldman ADE ’59 hon. made a gift of his Providence residence. He and his wife Barbara continued to live there together until Walter died

With an appetite for adventure and support from scholarship assistance, Mimi Pichey ’72 arrived at Brown with plans to make a difference.

Like many high school students, when Hal Tovin ’77 applied to Brown he did not know what his career aspirations were. However, he did know he wanted to select a college that would enable him to figure out the direction he wanted to take. When he applied to Brown, the open curriculum was in its infancy.

Cristina García P’14, author of seven novels including Dreaming in Cuban, finalist for the National Book Award, is the proud parent of Pilar Garcia-Brown ’14.

David “Chi” Chichester ’67 was originally recruited by men’s basketball coach Stan Ward and men’s soccer coach Cliff Stevenson to play basketball and soccer at Brown.

JOSÉ “PEPE” AMOR Y VÁZQUEZ, A NATIVE OF RIBADEO (Galicia, Spain), was a beloved scholar of Hispanic literature and history who made Brown University and the John Carter Brown Library (JCB) his second home.

Since their romance began in 1978, Scott Westerfield '79 and Ed Miskevich '79 have accumulated more than 40 years of memories and stories.

Galen V. Henderson MD’93 and Vanessa M. Britto MD MMSc’96 met at a conference on Brown’s campus in the fall of 1989 and started dating after a couple of years

Sue Buffum’s decision to attend Brown was based partly on its location—it was nearby—and it was co-ed, but what she wanted most was a place that would challenge her. Brown didn’t just challenge her, it offered a whole new world in which Sue thrived.

Family road trips past wind turbine fields in Iowa sparked an early interest in engineering for Cora Wiese Moore ’19. “Looking at different patterns of land and different wind forms and understanding bird migration routes, these factors demand a multi-dimensional view of the land.

Kris Brown grew up in northern Alaska and made his way to Brown. Grateful for his experience on College Hill, Kris remains keenly aware that intelligence is ubiquitous yet, for many, opportunity is limited. An entrepreneur at heart, Kris found a way to forge a legal career that combines his personal and professional interest in innovation, philanthropy, and social justice.

Dick selected Brown because it had both a great reputation and an accepting atmosphere. His daughters, Rebecca and Jessie, were drawn to the flexibility of the Open Curriculum and vibrancy of the student body. Their shared experience on College Hill, almost 50 years apart, has deepened their bond.

Jonathan’s journey to Brown started with a question from a high school guidance counselor: “Have you considered the Ivy League?” He hadn’t, but he knew someone who went to Brown and decided to apply. Once he met with the admissions team, though, he was sold.