"A Love for Education"

Wed., Nov 04

Alumna's $400K gift will help fund scholarships, university initiatives

Anne Bianchi Gundersen remembers trying to sneak up the wide stairs in the little building that housed New Haven State Normal School in the 1930s, but the creaking noises gave her away.

"The principal came out and said, 'Young lady, you're late!'"

Gundersen, 97, chuckles about that memory now, and thinks back fondly on a lifetime devoted to opening the doors of education to students of all ages and backgrounds. Although she and her late husband never had any children, she nurtured scores of youngsters during her 32-year teaching career.

"Prepare, deliver and inspire -- I believe everyone can learn, with patience," Gundersen says of her philosophy. "If you love them, you will be rewarded." 

Now, she continues to promote the cause of education through her philanthropy. A $400,000 gift to Southern will both bolster a scholarship fund Gundersen first established in 1995 and provide general support to the university's initiatives and priorities. The Anne Bianchi Gundersen Endowed Scholarship provides financial support for students pursuing a degree in education and since its establishment she has gifted more than $500,000 to the university. 

"This latest act of philanthropy reflects Mrs. Gundersen's lifelong devotion to furthering educational opportunities for others," says Megan A. Rock, Southern's vice president for institutional advancement. The gift continues a trend in which alumni support for the university has grown 35 percent during the last five years and gifts for endowed purposes increased 17 percent in the last year, Rock says.

President Cheryl Norton recognized Gundersen during the annual Alumni Homecoming breakfast earlier this month, sharing information from Gundersen's yearbook that characterized her at the time and appears to suit her well today: "Her aim is toward the goal." 

Norton praised Gundersen's generosity: "Leadership gifts such as this ensure that Southern will continue to meet its commitment to provide an affordable, accessible education to those seeking to earn a college degree."

In 1934 Gundersen received a bachelor's degree in education as a member of the New Haven State Normal School's first four-year class. Before that, she graduated from the first three-year class in 1933.

The normal school was the forerunner of what would ultimately become Southern Connecticut State University. But life on and off the school grounds was much different in the 1930s.

There were few extracurricular activities and no parties, and the big excitement on campus was if someone got married before he or she finished school, Gundersen says. She was a member of school clubs in art, travel, geography and science, as well as the Choral Art Society. 

After graduation she taught in Stratford for seven years, but when World War II started gas was rationed, meaning she couldn't get to work, so Gundersen left to take a job at the railroad. She spent some time working at the information desk -- and still recalls with warmth the time she put her husband on the wrong train from military leave. The U.S. Navy Police were waiting when he arrived late.

After the war she returned to the classroom -- this time in New Haven, where her family lived and her father owned a successful business.

Landing that job wasn't easy at first, she says, because just about everything in those days was about knowing the right people. But before long she had a job as an extra teacher for reading, which led to a 25-year career teaching in New Haven, mostly at Davis School.

She loved the children, but says the 1960s weren't an easy time to teach, so Gundersen retired in 1972.

A widow for more than 25 years, Gundersen says she had a small family, including one sister, who also became a teacher; both were directed to the career by their father. Her parents came from Bologna, Italy.

Gundersen says her secret to longevity may be that she never smoked and never drank much, "but we always had wine on the table."

"I had a wonderful family and life," Gundersen says. "We weren't wanting for anything."

Pictured above: Anne Bianchi Gundersen  (seated, second from right) is joined by President Cheryl Norton, (seated, second from left) and a group of students during the Alumni Homecoming Breakfast earlier this month. The students are: (standing, left to right) Sherrelle Coles, Chris Bandecchi, Frank Brady, Mary Faulkner, Melissa Genovese, and (seated, left to right) Patricia Dearborn, President Norton, Gundersen, and Brian Junious. Genovese is the recipient of a scholarship funded by a gift from Gundersen.