Thank You Trish
Dear Trish,
The Advancement Board joins together in thanking you for your leadership these past years. The effort which you invested was large but the outcomes were even larger. We appreciate how you gently urged us to set our sights higher and then showed us how to be successful. You accomplished a lot during your tenure; too many things to name now, but a few things stand out and deserve remembrance.
Right from the start you realized that we needed more organization, so you and Barbara Cable worked together developing the Advancement Board Handbook and a committee structure that engaged a greater number of Board members in our charge. In doing so, you had us review and refine our Mission Statement, clarifying our role at FHL.
The clear need to find funding for the FHL Research Apprenticeship Program inspired Henry and Holly Wendt to generously support and establish the Friday Harbor Labs Research Apprenticeship Program Endowment. In addition, they offered a fantastic matching opportunity. You challenged us to meet the Wendt's challenge and with the support of staff at FHL and the College of the Environment, we successfully raised more money than previously attempted.
You organized us into ad hoc action teams to determine how to support FHL in an era of diminishing funding. This led to the development of a sustainability model under the leadership of the Director that called out investments that would produce long-term increased income. The mode was debated and refined until it gave birth to a major fundraising initiative under the auspices of FHL and the College of the Environment development staff and support of the Advancement Board.
In addition to giving birth to this incredible fund raising initiative, you traveled to Japan and reawakened ties among their marine labs and FHL. In honor of Edward S. Morse, a zoologist who visited Japan in the late Nineteenth Century and discovered the Ōmori shell mound of which opened the study in archaeology and anthropology in Japan, you and several Japanese marine scientists founded the Edward S. Morse Institute for scholarly exchanges of scientists and students of both countries.
One of the most memorable gifts you gave to FHL was to organize anecdotes about the historic figures who developed the unique qualities of the Labs in regard to excellence in teaching, open exchanges, shared resources, and respect for all scientists with inquiring minds. These anecdotes captured the histories of these larger-than-life FHL founders/developers as well as the student experiences of many of the major marine biologists of today who interacted with them at the start of their academic journeys. All of these memories are illustrated with photos you had taken and preserved.
Thank you, Trish, for leading us to a level that we had not thought possible. Thank you for making FHL the focal point of your life during these years. Thank you for helping us sharpen our focus. You were just what we needed during a period full of financial obstacles when we had to keep our eye on the viability of future generations of FHL students and scientists.
The Advancement Board
