Norma Hutman: Dedicated to Hartwick College

When Professor Emerita Norma Hutman stepped onto Oyaron Hill for the first time in 1964, she had every intention of staying just one year. It took less time than that for her to realize that her deep belief in a liberal arts education meant that she would never be as happy teaching at a larger university. That was the start of a 47-year engagement with Hartwick students and colleagues.

Years ago, Norma included a bequest to Hartwick College in her estate plans, making Hartwick a primary beneficiary of her bequest assets. Retirement in 1996, after 32 years of teaching Spanish and Comparative Literature, did not diminish her commitment to learning, or her involvement in the College. In 2009, she established the Florence and George Hutman Scholarship for International Study in honor of her parents.

"The world is so small that we can't be insular, and we can't be only national," she said. "We are so interconnected in ways that are inescapably important. All the textbooks in the world aren't as important as sitting in a coffeehouse in Paris or Madrid. Our students come back with an understanding of the world that you can't get any other way, and because of that, we turn out some of the best and the brightest."

Sadly, Norma died in 2011, but her endowed scholarship fund ensures that her parents' memory and her own lifelong commitment to international study will live on at Hartwick College.