Spring 2006

Physics program benefits from charitable trust

Hall `56 MA `58 and Carol Jo `60 Crannell have accomplished many things since graduating from Miami with degrees in physics. Hall’s research on nuclear structure, sponsored by a grant from the National Science Foundation, has been printed in nearly 70 publications and presented at many meetings and seminars. Carol Jo, recently retired, has worked for NASA in the Goddard Space Flight Center, Laboratory for Astronomy and Solar Physics as an Astrophysicist in the Solar Physics Branch and has authored or co-authored 92 publications.

Both have instructed physics classes at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. - Carol Jo on an adjunct basis and Hall full-time, from which he retired four years ago.

Now they’ve decided to do another great thing, this time to the benefit of Miami University physics students. The Crannells have pledged over $300,000 through a charitable remainder trust to establish the Hall and Carol Jo Crannell Seminar and Lecture Series. The series will bring prominent physics scholars to campus to offer lectures and other activities related to the study of physics.

“Both my wife and I feel very positive about the start we got at Miami,” Hall explained. “(The physics program) is a good program. We looked at what the department was interested in, and, being associated with universities for most of my life, I knew the need for bringing in prominent speakers.

“We used our own experiences to make the decision to give to a lecture series. Plus, our gift is advantageous to both Miami and us.”

The charitable remainder trust allows the Crannells to receive income from the interest their gift accrues until the time of their deaths, when Miami University will then receive this annual interest. This allows them to enjoy their retirement without a strain on their finances. They have taken the opportunity to travel, recently going on a cruise around the tip of South America and also driving across the United States in their R.V. The Crannells can also enjoy the knowledge that their gift will strengthen the Miami University physics program, which gave them both the good start that led to their successful lives.