b'Articles of WINTER 2020GRATITUDE"When I arrived at Marshall, there wereLessons in many people who were spoken highly of for their continual support of MarshallLeadershipUniversity. Ed and Susan Maier are two of those people.I quickly discovered their genuine kindness and desire forThere are many things we learn from our families. Marshalls prosperity. Because of theirOftentimes, they encourage and inspire us by taking loyalty to their alma mater, they haveus under their wings to teach us a particular skill. changed the lives of countless students.There are some lessons, however, that are best taught through observation. We recognize their I also realized the generosity goesmannerisms or the way they hold themselves during beyond Ed and Susan, extending toa particular event. For the Maier family, learning life theMaier Foundation. Because of thelessons was no exception. Maier Foundation, Marshall UniversityEd Maier is a second-generation college graduate. is able to reward students annually forHe and his three siblings were taught the value creative writing and Latin. In recentof hard work and education from a young age, but he still faced obstacles in obtaining his years, they have helped students fromdegree. southern West Virginia who wereEds father, William J. Maier Jr., was born to William J. and Sarah Maier - both of whom affected by catastrophic flooding. Thehad fourth grade educations and deeply regarded education and philanthropy, despite their Maiers understand the importance offinancial position. Sarah encouraged William Jr. to better himself and to study hard, and he professorships and have establisheddid. He was named the top Latin student in West Virginia and graduated from Huntington one for addiction sciences. They haveHigh School in 1919 at the age of 16. With encouragement from the principal, he applied established the Maier Foundation STEMfor a scholarship at Harvard College. Educators Scholarship to reward someSpending the summer after graduation working ten-hour days as a skulldragger in the of West Virginias brightest students whoC & O Railway repair yards, the younger Williams pay was ten cents an hour. Striving to desire to teach the next generation. Asgo to Harvard, and despite his dollar-a-day pay, he hired a Latin tutor who charged $2.50 part of this scholarship, students must bean hour, to become more efficient in the language. His hard work paid off and he received a willing to teach secondary STEM coursesfull four-year scholarship to Harvard. in southern West Virginia for four yearsAs a junior, William Jr. applied to be a Rhodes Scholar - mainly to meet the fabled Harvard following graduation. Most recently,president, Lawrence Lowell, who was a judge. William received the prestigious accolade they made a significant gift to aid theand went to Oxford University where he excelled in studying economics, philosophy and construction and equipping of a newpolitics. After graduation, he taught undergraduate courses at Harvard while earning a law academic building for our new aviationdegree. program at Yeager Airport in Charleston.My father had nine years of the finest education money could buy and he did it on other Ed and Susan and the Maier Foundationspeoples money. That had a profound effect on his thought process for the rest of his life, Ed continued support have helped Marshallsaid in a 2002 interview with Marshall University. rise for many years and we at Marshall are deeply grateful for their dedication toEventually, William Jr. decided to practice law and built his fortune in gas holdings, a higher education in West Virginia.merchandising storage business and other real estate investments. He remembered his mothers example about giving back and in 1958 established the Sarah and Pauline Maier - Dr. Jerome Gilbert, President,Foundation, named for his mother and wife. The first gift was two million dollars and was Marshall University sent to Harvard in support of scholarships for West Virginia and Ohio residents. The same year the Maier Foundation was created, Ed began attending prep school at Woodberry Forest School in Virginia. Described as exclusive, academically rigorous and 519 John Marshall Drive | Huntington, WV 25703good for an inquisitive 13-year-old boy, Woodberry prepared Ed for college at Denison p 304.696.6264 | www.marshall.edu/foundation University, a small liberal arts college near Columbus, Ohio. Editor: Kristin Rhodes Continued on next page '