Establishing a permanent legacy and named endowment in honor of Glen H. Mitchel, Jr.
Glen H. Mitchel, Jr. with Lars Bildsten
The institute has recently received a generous $1,000,000 matching gift commitment from an anonymous, long-time friend of Glen Henry Mitchel, Jr., to establish the Mitchel Postdoctoral Scholars Career Development Fund. KITP is working to build this endowment as a meaningful tribute to Glen’s legacy. This initiative has already galvanized many of Glen’s friends and family members to contribute to this effort, and we are well on our way toward reaching our $2,000,000 total funding goal.
Glen Henry Mitchel, Jr. was a lifelong Friend of KITP who became passionately engaged with the mission of the institute through participating in KITP’s outreach programming. Glen was instrumental in realizing the Charles T. Munger Physics Residence by introducing his good friend Charlie Munger to KITP Director Lars Bildsten. Moreover, he provided incredible leadership, thoughtful oversight and many hours of tireless work to achieve the vision of a purpose-built Residence for KITP’s visiting scientists and their families.
KITP Director Lars Bildsten, who became quite close with Glen, said “Glen was famous for his inspections on the job site. He would lace up his boots, drive over and just show up—surprise! This would cause a shock wave on the job site, as he had such an eagle-eye for seeing what was happening and, in a very gentlemanly way, pointing it out. Over time, all members of the construction team came to embrace his arrivals, rising to the occasion to proudly show him the work they had done. By graciously sharing his passion for an excellent product that would last for the ages, he inspired all workers on site to do better, as they knew that their work would be recognized and appreciated by Glen.” Throughout his lifetime, Glen also generously supported KITP Postdoctoral Scholars with his own annual contributions.
Hank Mitchel, Glen’s oldest son, shared on behalf of himself and his siblings, “we are incredibly proud of our father, Glen Henry Mitchel, Jr., and of the good work he, his good friend Charlie Munger, and KITP have accomplished together.” The institute’s top funding priority for some time has been to build an endowment to fully fund and support the research and career development of KITP Postdoctoral Scholars. Our postdocs come from a diverse range of backgrounds to pursue groundbreaking research and to foster collaborative networks. The KITP Postdoctoral Scholars Program has produced more than 250 of the world’s leading early-career physicists over the past 45 years. Many have gone on to lead physics departments and institutes around the world, and some have contributed to the creation of new fields of study during their time at KITP. The connections they form while at KITP impact the institutions they join, collaborations they initiate, students they mentor, and industries they influence. The skills that KITP Postdoctoral Scholars gain—learning how to ask important questions, look for patterns, take risks and collaborate within and outside of their fields of interest—are vital for their scientific careers.
The Mitchel Postdoctoral Scholars Career Development Endowed Fund will support KITP Postdoctoral Scholars by helping them purchase computing equipment for their research, host their scientific colleagues for research-related visits to KITP, and cover the costs of participating in academic conferences where they present their work and spark new collaborations. We invite you to join us in this effort! KITP will celebrate and share the news of all generous gifts towards this matching initiative within our scientific and support communities. In recognition of investments of $100,000 or more, we will proudly list donors’ names on our leadership donor wall at Kohn Hall and in KITP donor rosters. All gift commitments, regardless of size, in support of the KITP Mitchel Postdoctoral Scholars Career Development Endowed Fund will be matched and will have a lasting impact on the future of the institute and science across the world.
by Kristi Newton Senior Director of Development, KITP