Retired Professor Endows
From the Summer 2008 issue of e-Momentum.
A life-long passion for classical music has inspired emeritus professor Jay S. Shivers to make a $500,000 bequest to the School of Fine Arts. The gift will support a new endowment for a professorship in classical music and build on an existing scholarship endowment for students in the arts.
A professor in the Department of Sport, Leisure and Exercise Sciences from 1962 to 2003, Shivers has always enjoyed music. “My mother instilled in me a love of music when I was about three years old,” said Shivers. Growing up in New York City, he worked at age 14 as a super, or extra, for the Metropolitan Opera. “I started out in Aïda as an idol carrier,” Shivers recalled. “I soon graduated to spear carrier—that was much easier, the spear was much lighter. They paid me $1 per show, and I got to see the opera for free and meet all of these famous singers.”
During his 40 years as a faculty member at UConn, Shivers frequently enjoyed concerts by visiting greats such as Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic. He grew to particularly love the sound of classical trumpet (although he has never played the instrument), and decided to make a long-term commitment to support trumpet performance at the University.
Professor Shivers’s bequest will go to two funds. A gift of $400,000 will establish the Jay S. Shivers Award in Classical Music, an endowment to support a professorship, preferably in trumpet instruction. The remaining $100,000 will go to the Rhoda Shivers Memorial Award in the Arts, a scholarship established in 1988 in memory of Shivers’s late first wife. The Rhoda Shivers Award supports talented undergraduate and graduate students with demonstrated financial need in art, dramatic arts and music.
Monica Michaud, an oboe major from Jewett City, credits the Rhoda Shivers Award and other UConn support for helping her to keep on track. “Thanks to the scholarships I've received, I'm able to enjoy my wonderful experiences without worrying about whether I can afford to continue when I know talent will allow me to.”
David Woods, dean of the School of Fine Arts, is delighted with Shivers’s gift. “Professor Shivers has been a friend and supporter of the School for many years,” says Woods, adding that Shivers is a regular at SFA functions and activities, and always makes a point of meeting the students awarded the Rhoda Shivers Award scholarship.
“His recent bequest will benefit not only the School of Fine Arts, but will make a significant impact on the applied music program in the Music Department, particularly in the area of trumpet performance.” As of the spring semester, there were 17 trumpet majors in the Department of Music.
Shivers is pleased with the legacy his gift will leave to the School of Fine Arts. “If the mission of the University is education, then the School of Fine Arts fits in. There is a public entertainment function, of course, but the essential mission of the School is the education of students.”
For more information about supporting the School of Fine Arts, contact Paul Goldberg, major gifts officer, at 860.486.0394 .
