ELON COLLEGE – Dr. Isabella Cannon, a 1924 Elon College alumna, is giving the college $1 million to endow the Office of International Programs, which will be renamed the Isabella Cannon Centre for International Studies. The announcement was made by President Leo M. Lambert at his inauguration ceremony Sept. 15.
The centre will enhance Elon’s already strong international programs. The college is ranked second in the nation among comparable institutions in the percentage of students who study abroad. About 46 percent of the college’s 1999 graduates spent at least one term studying in a foreign country.
“During the past decade Elon College has made great strides in providing opportunities for its students to gain an understanding of world affairs and cultures,” Lambert said. “To keep pace with the rapidly changing world events, the college needs to enhance and upgrade its international programs. Dr. Cannon’s generous gift will make it possible for us to prepare our students to thrive in a global environment.”
Cannon, a native of Scotland who moved to North Carolina at the age of 12, has spent most of her lifetime involved in leadership and public service. In 1977, she became the first woman elected mayor of Raleigh and first woman mayor of a capital city. She was named to the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, N.Y., in 1998, and earlier this year was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine for her dedicated service to North Carolina.
She has been a generous benefactor to Elon and the college’s student leadership fellows program and two scholarships are named in her honor. A room in the Faith Rockefeller Model Center for the Arts also bears her name. She was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from the college in 1978.
Cannon, 95, gives the principle “think globally, act locally” true meaning. She lived abroad with her husband, who was in the diplomatic service, in Liberia, West African and Iraq. She has traveled extensively throughout central Europe and Russia. She was in China during the Tianamen Square uprising.
“Our world is more intimately involved in our lives than what it was 20 or 30 years ago,” Cannon said. “There is a real impetus for us to know about people in other lands and for them to know us. This exciting center will make that possible.
“I am thrilled and excited about this center, which can do so much in allowing Elon students to experience other lands and people,” said Cannon, adding that her own international travels have been enriching.
“One of the real values of having study aboard courses, international students and visiting scholars is that it increases the intellectual richness of our campus,” said Bill Rich, dean of international programs.
The college’s study abroad program has experienced major growth since 1985, Rich said. Thirteen of the 14 study abroad courses to be offered during the 2000 winter term are filled and have waiting lists. More half of Elon’s faculty has taken students to foreign countries for study.
The college recently stepped up efforts to recruit international students. This fall, the college enrolled 68 international students – the most in its history.
The Cannon gift will allow the college to enhance its international programs in several ways. The center will offer more study abroad opportunities for students, recruit more international students by offering additional scholarships and invite more visiting scholars to campus. Currently visiting scholars from universities in Spain and China spend a year at Elon. The college’s first Fulbright Visiting Scholar, who is from Curtin University in Australia, will join the faculty in January.
The number of international affiliations will increase to include universities in Germany, Italy and Latin and South America. The college has agreements with universities in Spain, Japan, Australia, Sweden, China, Ecuador and France.
Curricula offerings will be enhanced through the development of additional minors and regional concentrations.
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