Gifts to Environmental Studies

Kathelen V. and Daniel P. Amos

In 2018, a gift from Kathelen and Dan Amos of Columbus, Georgia, established a new tenure-track faculty position in the Environmental Studies Program, as well as the position of John Kyle Spencer Endowed Director for Environmental Studies in memory of Kathelen Amos' son, John, a member of the Class of 2013. John Spencer, who majored in both philosophy and environmental studies, died unexpectedly in January 2016. At the time of his death, he was a graduate student in the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia. He received his M.S. in ecology posthumously in December 2016. The Amos' gift strenthens the Environmental Studies Program, defines the leadership and creates additional coursework, advising and research opportunities in an area of increasing interest to W&L students. 

Earle Salisbury Bates, '54

A member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and the Phi Beta Kappa society, Earle Bates earned a bachelor of arts in history from Washington and Lee University in 1954 and then sought a law degree from the University of Virginia. He practiced corporate and securities law in Washington, D.C. After retiring in 2000, he moved to Lexington and became a frequent visitor to W&L's campus. Being a dedicated environmentalist, he took an immediate interest in the environmental studies program, which was in its fledging stage at that time. In 2002, he established the Earle S. Bates '54 Environmental Studies Fund, which was endowed upon his death in August 2017. The endowment supports the Earle Bates Memorial Lecture series as well as the Earle Bates Prize in Environmental Studies and the Earle Bates Prize in Environmental Citizenship, awarded to rising seniors at Commencement each year.

Stephen S. Sloan, '54

Steve Sloan was a member and president of the Phi Epsilon Pi fraternity during his time at W&L, as well as co-captain of the baseball team. He was president of Lehman Brothers Realty Company and then started his own firm, 510 Park Avenue Corporation. He was a well-recognized environmentalist and sportsman, winning 44 International Game Fishing Association World Records and authoring and co-authoring books on fishing. Sloan chaired the Fisheries Defense Fund and was involved in several other conservation organizations, and in 2004, he received W&L’s Distinguished Alumni Award in part for those efforts. A supporter of the Environmental Studies Program, he donated the painting White Shark and Sea Lion by Richard Ellis (1975). He died in April 2005.