91¶ÌÊÓƵ

(L-R) Pamela Hansson, FrederickArn Hansson, and Professor David Larson, chair, Department of Anthropology, Geography, and Environmental Studies.

• December 18, 2014

91¶ÌÊÓƵ alumnus FrederickArn Hansson and his wife, Pamela, have established a $25,000 award endowment in the university's Department of Anthropology, Geography, and Environmental Studies (AGES).

Named the Hansson Adventure, Research and Travel Fund for Anthropology, Geography, and Environmental Studies, the endowment will provide up to $1,000 a year to one or two students. "The award money can be used more flexibly than scholarship funds," said Professor David Larson, chair of AGES. "In this case, it is intended to help a student fulfill a dream or goal that may include research, field work, or conference attendance."

Fred Hansson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography in 1974. He was the first person in his family to graduate from college, and paying for his education was a struggle.

"The expectation was for me to be a printer or an electrician, but my head was always into exploring esoteric concepts and twisting accepted norms on their sides. Geography has always been about people and their relationship with land. It requires a breadth of interests in history, psychology, art, language and statistics.

"The skills I learned allowed me to secure the jobs I needed to raise a family, but my passion with geography would lead me to a parallel career in public service," he continued. "I practiced urban planning as a city and county planning commissioner and as a city councilman. But our vacations were excuses to investigate sun alignments in the Inca ruins, explore the wilderness of the Yukon, and visit Norseman remnants in the Faroe Islands."

Hansson, who lives with his wife in San Mateo, has stayed connected to his alma mater, even borrowing surveying equipment from the department to instruct scouts at their Sierra Nevada summer camp.

The concept for the endowment began in the 1990s when Hansson gave the department small gifts to be used for refreshments at meetings as a way to thank the department while fostering conversations within it.

Hansson established the endowment to help students who "struggle to find two pennies to rub together -- like I did -- and wish to investigate the wonders that seem just out of our reach. I'm thankful for those who gave me the love of learning, taught me how to research and to understand the bigger picture by looking at the inner-connections of the world in which we live.

"Just because I graduated doesn't mean there isn't more for me to learn or that I can ignore assistance that I am able to provide," Hansson continued. "Successes in life are both measured in and assisted by developing and maintaining relationships. It is important for all of us to invest in the next generation, as they will invent the future that we live in."

The Hanssons' support will, according to Professor Larson, "encourage students in our programs to think beyond simply completing the standard curriculum leading to a degree. Now they'll be able to consider more ambitious research projects, knowing that department funding could help support it."

Dr. Kathleen Rountree, Dean of the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences at 91¶ÌÊÓƵ, described the long-term impact of the gift: "Education, at its essence, is about encouraging student achievement to build a better society for the future. By making this gift, Fred and Pamela Hansson have affirmed their commitment to the power of education as a critical component in creating the future we all hope for. By creating an endowment, they have ensured that their support for student achievement will be ongoing."

The students who receive the award are invited -- but not required -- to provide a box of doughnuts or a pound of coffee for the Department of Anthropology, Geography, and Environmental Studies, to be shared with the community. This is intended to act as a primer to foster communication about exciting things in the lives of department members, according to Hansson.

"We should always celebrate in small ways for the gifts life has afforded us," Hansson said.