When William Denison Williams died, he left an unexpected legacy to his alma mater: A stack of memorabilia including his 1932 Union College commencement program and $5 million.
His gift ranks among the top 10 in the college's history, but until his death his intentions were wholly unknown to the college, said Tom Gutenberger, vice president for college relations.
“That was the beautiful part about it,” Gutenberger said . “Pretty much every year he would give a gift to our annual fund, he came to some alumni events in Philadelphia. He was involved, but he was kind of in the middle . . . but he never let us know we were in his will.”
Williams graduated from Union with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. After further study at Duke and Cornell universities, Williams returned to the area as a GE engineer.
He became manager of the magnetics section and worked in the engineering laboratory until his retirement. He lived in Scotia until 1991 when he moved to Doylestown, Pa. Williams was married – his wife died before he did – but the couple had no children. He was an accomplished violinist and performed with orchestras in New York and Philadelphia.
At the time of his death, Williams had amassed an estate exceeding $20 million, much of it acquired through investments, according to a statement from the college. The bulk of the estate was divided among Union College, Piedmont College in Georgia, his wife's alma mater, and the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown.
Other than that, the college knows very little about him.
“We don't have anyone who knows him or has information about him,” Gutenberger said. “The bottom line of the whole thing is it's very rare to have a gift of this size without the person being involved to a larger extent.”
Gutenberger said unexpected estate gifts – particularly large gifts – are very rare.
“Most people do let us know if we are in their will, and if they do, we can thank them while they're alive, invite them to special events on campus, give them some recognition,” Gutenberger said. “It's very surprising.”
Most of the tidbits the college has been able to learn about Williams come from records of his contributions and a stack of papers his attorney forwarded to the college upon his death.
Among the papers are an article about the restoration of the Nott Memorial, numerous thank you notes for donations, including a 1987 note for donating a copy of Harriet Beecher Stowe's “Men of our Times,” and a 1935 letter to Williams from a former professor.
“He's held on to all of these things, so obviously Union meant a great deal to him,” Gutenberger said. “But for some reason he didn't want maybe the attention while he was alive. Because clearly he could've made a gift when he was alive.”
Gutenberger said Williams made annual contributions to Union.
A 1941 note in Williams' collection thanks him for a $56.67 check to the Department of Physics, but in later years Williams' donated $1,000 annually.
The college contacted him about once every two years to inquire about an estate gift, but Gutenberger said Williams was not interested.
“He said no, he really didn't have an interest in seeing anybody, he was happy with his relationship, so we weren't able to talk to him personally about giving,” Gutenberger said.
Gutenberger said the college does try to track wealthier alumni and contact them to encourage giving.
“A lot of it is, you can tell by the level of the gifts they make to the college,” Gutenberger. “Another is through classmates that will talk about other successful classmates who should be giving to the college, and a third is through public record when you see someone has been named president of their company or started a company.”
The college also sends out alumni surveys and maintains an alumni directory. But while Williams made regular contributions, he never sought a leadership role as an alumnus and he rebuffed efforts to meet with college representatives to discuss a larger donation.
“One of the good lessons is you really have to look long term and pay attention to everyone and treat them well,” Gutenberger said.
Williams' $5 million gift was unrestricted and will be used to endow two chairs in his honor. The academic designation for the chairs has not been decided.
His contribution increases the college's $300 million endowment. The college is also in the midst of a $200 million capital campaign which has raised $106 million in its first 1 ½ years and will continue for the next 3 ½ years.