From a visionary for what still sets Longwood apart, a historic eight-figure gift to support student and academic excellence into the next century

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The KAE Fund will create opportunities for the university to continue evolving in two areas of specialty: academic excellence and excellence in student development.

Dr. Janet Greenwood

"I have trust and a belief in what Longwood has done and is able to do," said Greenwood, who became the namesake of Longwood's Janet D. Greenwood Library in 2004. "The KAE Fund will create opportunities for the university to continue evolving in two areas of specialty: academic excellence and excellence in student development."

The KAE Fund will serve as another example of Greenwood's longstanding commitment to student achievement, a mission she championed as Longwood's president and one that still stands today.

"During my time as a student, I found Dr. Greenwood's leadership principled, approachable and genuinely focused on helping students succeed, especially when things were difficult," said Troy Littles '84, COO of the Georgia Tech Research Institute and a member of the Board of Directors of the Longwood University Foundation. "She took student concerns seriously, listened carefully, and made it clear that our development, intellectual and personal, was at the center of her decisions. The goals she emphasized-critical thinking, responsible citizenship, clear communication and personal growth-stuck with me well beyond the classroom and the campus. They have become lasting touchstones that still influence how I approach my work, how I lead and collaborate with others, how I contribute to my community and how I live my life with integrity and purpose."

Added Ricky Otey '89, president and CEO of Partners Federal Credit Union: "As a student leader during Dr. Greenwood's administration and a former Board of Visitors member, I have a keen understanding and deep sense of gratitude for the impact of Dr. Greenwood's legacy gift and her visionary leadership as Longwood's president."

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This tremendous gift and her powerful legacy will continue to drive Longwood forward in the far future. It is an honor to follow in her footsteps, and such a joy to look ahead to the great good that will flow from the vision she set and from her visionary gift now.

Longwood President W. Taylor Reveley IV

"President Greenwood set the course for so many aspects of Longwood that we deeply cherish through all the years," said Longwood President W. Taylor Reveley IV, who has led the institution since 2013. "This tremendous gift and her powerful legacy will continue to drive Longwood forward in the far future. It is an honor to follow in her footsteps, and such a joy to look ahead to the great good that will flow from the vision she set and from her visionary gift now."

"Longwood is a beacon for how American higher education can work, in a time of tremendous change," added Rector Ronald O. White, whose first term on the Board of Visitors began in 2010. "President Greenwood's accomplishments and stewardship drove Longwood to meet the moment in prior times of great change, with such momentum since, and this incredible and devoted act of philanthropy will propel Longwood forward."

The KAE Fund, which will support both new and existing programs identified by Longwood's leadership, also honors Greenwood's mother, Kae Daly, a native of St. John's, Newfoundland, whom Greenwood credits with modeling the personal values that came to define her Longwood presidency and acclaimed career.

"My mother was an incredibly hard worker," Greenwood said. "She taught me that you only get in life what you work hard for, and she was the one who instilled the 'give back' focus and the importance of volunteering. Giving back became a very important part of my moral compass. That was a critical component of establishing the KAE Fund."

Many of the initiatives established during Greenwood's presidency shaped Longwood's distinctive focus and culture of student support today. While recognizing and honoring Longwood's long-held reputation as a premier institution for preparing educators, she pushed to expand the college's academic offerings, strengthen its academic reputation in Virginia and beyond-including student teaching opportunities in Seoul, South Korea-and emphasize a broader, more holistic education of its students to include explorations of morality, honor, integrity, ethics and community. She instituted programs built around 14 goals for student enrichment, broken into categories of intellectual goals (such as critical thinking and "a sense of history"), career goals, personal goals, and social goals (for example interpersonal effectiveness and responsible citizenship).

Among Greenwood's lasting impacts are securing support and funding for a new library; the organization of the school's academic programs into three undergraduate colleges; creating an arts and sciences honors program; establishing new majors including anthropology, philosophy and pre-professional programs; and the launch of the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature, which has bolstered the university's academic reputation on an international scale.

Those initiatives came at a time when Longwood was at a crossroads as an institution, having transitioned to full co-education just a few years earlier. Drawing on lessons from her early work as a secondary school educator and K-12 guidance counselor, an administrator at Florida State University, faculty member and administrator at Rutgers University and senior leader at the University of Cincinnati, Greenwood set out to modernize Longwood and fortify its mission in the context of broader change among American higher education institutions.

To accomplish that, Greenwood hired Phyllis Mable as vice president for student affairs and empowered her fellow campus leaders with the same level of decision-making autonomy she had been afforded by mentors in her own career. She worked effectively with legislators and members of the executive branch on both sides of the political aisle to demonstrate the institution's effectiveness and push successfully for critical financial support. Alongside Mable, she incorporated student development-minded interventions into Longwood's culture and curriculum to expose students to complex questions beyond the purely academic, including emotional, cognitive, and social values and their impact on society and the future.

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[Longwood University is] for well-rounded students who are not only interested in a credible academic degree, but also interested in the enrichment of their life and work in addition to that degree. It's a model for how other higher-education institutions can learn to do that.

Dr. Janet Greenwood

In short, much of the foundation for what makes Longwood "Longwood" emerged under her leadership-and it will receive an extraordinary boost in the years ahead thanks to her gift, among the largest in the university's history.

The gift-and the significant acceleration of university philanthropy in recent years that it underscores-also reflects long-term success in another endeavor that was close to Greenwood's heart during her time as president: making sure the campus community, and the Commonwealth as a whole, understand that Longwood is a special place with the potential to be even more.

"Longwood has successfully developed a reputation as a go-to university for student development," said Greenwood, also a member of Kappa Delta sorority, whose Alpha Chapter was founded at Longwood. "It's for well-rounded students who are not only interested in a credible academic degree, but also interested in the enrichment of their life and work in addition to that degree. It's a model for how other higher-education institutions can learn to do that."