Towsley Foundation gives $1.5 million to School of Music

By Joanne Nesbit, University News & Information Services

Oct. 24, 2005

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation has donated $1.5 million to the University of Michigan and its School of Music toward construction of the Charles R.Walgreen Jr. Drama Center on U-M's North Campus.

The facility will house the 250-seat Arthur Miller Theatre and provide the school with modern rehearsal rooms, faculty offices, classrooms and specialized studios.

This gift is designated for a major rehearsal hall that will be named at a later date. Construction of the Center is underway with a projected completion in summer 2007.

"It seems only fitting that the Towsleys, one of the University's most loyal families, support one of U-M's most exceptional programs, the Department of Musical Theatre," said President Mary Sue Coleman. “With this gift, the Towsley family and the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation continue their exceptional legacy of making a tremendous difference in the lives of Michigan students and faculty."

The relationship between the University and the Towsley family began in the early 20th century when Margaret Dow Towsley and Harry A. Towsley graduated from U-M, she with a bachelor's degree and he with a medical degree. Mrs. Towsley later earned a master's degree from Columbia University Teachers College and honorary degrees from U-M, Eastern Michigan University and Cleary College. Dr. Towsley became a professor of pediatrics and chairman of the post-graduate medicine department at U-M.

Throughout their lives in Ann Arbor, the couple and their children, through the foundation, contributed more than $1 million toward scholarships awarded through U-M's Center for the Education of Women. They also donated $1 million to the U-M School of Music, where a wing of the Earl V. Moore Building on North Campus is known as the Margaret Dow Towsley Center, a cube-shaped addition to the Eero Saarinen-designed building.

The addition is an architectural element included in the original Saarinen plan, dropped from the final plans for funding considerations and ultimately constructed with the Towsley support. The Towsley Center houses a 158-seat vocal arts auditorium, display area for the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments and the Blanche Anderson Moore Hall that houses a mechanical action organ.

"What a tremendous gesture of generosity the Towsley Foundation has made to the U-M School of Music," said Christopher Kendall, dean of the music school. "The gift, from one of Ann Arbor's leading families of philanthropy, will allow us to make a significant difference for our students, who will use the facility each day of their time at Michigan, and for our community, who will be able to witness these talented young artists in action. The students, faculty and staff of the School of Music join me in expressing our great appreciation for the Foundation's commitment to our future."

The couple's daughters, Judy Dow Rumelhart, Margaret Ann (Ranny) Riecker and Lynn T. White, continue the family's philanthropic tradition with this gift through the Towsley Foundation to The Michigan Difference, the University's $2.5 billion fund-raising campaign.

Rumelhart, recipient of U-M's School of music's Distinguished Alumni Award and co-chair of the School of Music's Leading the Way campaign, said, "All of us at the Foundation are thrilled to be a part of the Walgreen Drama Center and especially the Musical Theatre Program space."