Loyola University Maryland has received a $1 million gift from the estate of former Secretary of State Gen. Alexander M. Haig. Rev. Frank Haig, S.J., professor emeritus of physics at Loyola and Gen. Haig’s younger brother, has directed the gift, which will create the Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Endowment Fund for Science, Faith, and Culture.
“Al saw a special value in the influence of his Catholic faith on the formation of American culture and the transmission of that richness to young people,” said Fr. Haig. “He always considered education as central to the health of the nation.”
The fund will support a wide range of initiatives, including Loyola’s Hauber Fellows program, which provides funding for undergraduates to participate in faculty research in the sciences each summer; the annual Cosmos and Creation conference, a symposium focused on the relationship between science and theology; additional celebrants and music for campus Masses; and enhancements to the University’s modern languages and theater programs.
“The Haig family’s gift supports a variety of programs critical to the University’s pursuit of its mission,” said Rev. Brian F. Linnane, S.J., Loyola’s president. “I am deeply grateful to the Haig family, and to Fr. Frank Haig, a longstanding member of the Loyola community, for their extraordinary generosity.”
Fr. Haig has been a member of the Loyola faculty since 1973. He was previously the president of Wheeling Jesuit University from 1966 to 1972 and also served as president of Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., from 1981 to 1987. While officially retired, he remains an active member of the Baltimore and University communities and still teaches one course in astronomy each semester in the Loyola’s physics department.
For more information or questions regarding this story, contact Media Relations Manager Nick Alexopulos at nalexopulos@loyola.edu or 410-617-5025.