FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 29, 2008
Contact: Molly Dannenmaier, 409-765-7834
Director of Marketing and Public Relations
molly.dannenmaier@galvestonhistory.org

GHF Announces Doug Kanoy Memorial Education Fund for Employees

Galveston Historical Foundation (GHF) announces a new fund that offers tuition assistance for long-term employees to continue their studies in areas related to the preservation of the built environment. The fund is for employees who are interested in continuing undergraduate or graduate academic work.

GHF's Director of Preservation Services, Brian Davis, is the first recipient if the Doug Kanoy Memorial Scholarship Fund for GHF Employees. Left to right: At GHF's Annual Meeting Friday, July 25 at Garten Verein: Bill Leopold (scholarship fund donor), Brian Davis (scholarship fund recipient), Liz Ward (mother of Doug Kanoy, in whose memory the fund was established), Joe O'Drobinak (Kanoy's partner) and Robert Evans (scholarship fund donor).

An initial donation by Robert Evans and Bill Leopold has made this education fund possible. These two long-time supporters of GHF said their hope was to strengthen the organization and increase employee retention by offering staff members the means to continue their education while remaining GHF employees. Evans and Leopold requested that the fund be named for a personal friend and long-time GHF volunteer, Doug Kanoy, who died in 2007.

"On behalf of his family and friends in Galveston, we are grateful for honoring Doug's memory in such a wonderful way,” said Joe O’Drobinak, Kanoy’s partner.

“GHF is really pleased to see this type of interest in our employees and naming it for Doug is a special incentive to recognize the role of volunteers in the mission of GHF,” said Executive Director Dwayne Jones.

Brian Davis, GHF’s director of preservation services, is the first recipient of the fund’s assistance. Davis begins his studies for a master of arts in historic preservation at Goucher College in Maryland this summer. The Goacher limited residency program is one of the oldest of its kind and is taught by some of the country’s most highly regarded historic preservation leaders.

“The Doug Kanoy Fund really sets a great model for others to follow,” says Tom Schwenk, GHF’s new president. “We hope that other donors step forward to add support to the philanthropic vision of Mr Leopold and Mr. Evans so that the fund will increase in years to come allowing for greater participation .”

GHF is the steward of 13 historic properties and attractions including Ashton Villa, the Bishop’s Palace, the Michel Menard House, the Great Storm Theater, and the Texas Seaport Museum, home to the 1877 Tall Ship ELISSA.

One of the largest local preservation organizations in the United States, Galveston Historical Foundation was incorporated in 1954 in response to the deterioration and potential loss of Galveston Island’s exceptional architectural legacy. As the organization matured, it expanded its role on the Island beyond historic preservation into community redevelopment, economic revitalization and heritage tourism.