The Cosmos Club Foundation continued its mission to support the intellectual community both within and outside the Cosmos Club through its lecture/award programs and its grants-in-aid to deserving graduate students of area universities.
During the past year, the McGovern Award in the Arts was awarded to the distinguished director of the National Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin, on December 8, 2003. Mr. Slatkin spoke to the audience on “Classical Music – Is It Dead Yet?” and explored the challenges of building audiences for concerts, including new music in programs, and other issues faced by music organizations today.
The Foundation’s benefactor, Dr. John P. McGovern, was honored by the Club with a special Citation for Distinguished Service on the anniversary of his 50th year of membership in Club. The award was presented to Dr. McGovern at his home in Texas by Tedson Meyers on November 17, 2003.
The Foundation also joined the Board and the Awards Committee in presenting the Cosmos Club Award to the distinguished test pilot and aviation pioneer, Brigadier General Charles Yeager, on April 19, 2004.
The Grants-In-Aid program was robust this year. A record 217 applications were received and, owing to the substantial number of individual contributions from members and the improvement in investments, we were able to grant awards totaling just under $30,000 to 22 applicants from eight area universities. This is a substantial increase from the 13 awards last year. The projects involved a broad range of subjects, including biological and physical sciences, psychology, European history, political history, art history, English literature, and geography. We are grateful to the Consortium of Washington Area Universities for their collaboration in this important undertaking; we could not have made these grants without them.
The Phillips Collection presents a concert each year supported by a fund from the Foundation. This year, the concert was on November 16, 2003, presented violinist Elisabeth Adkins and pianist Edward Newman in works by Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Beethoven.
Thanks to the diligent management of the Foundation’s assets by our treasurer, Mr. Huebner, the chair of the financial trustees, Mr. Staats, and the financial trustees of the Foundation, and thanks to the improved financial scene, the total value of all investments increased during the Foundation’s fiscal year (Jan. 2003 to Dec. 2003) by $120,014. The assets now stand at a current total of $952,880 ($201,615 of which is in the McGovern Fund), diversified into two stock market index funds, two bond market index mutual funds, and three money market funds. In addition, contributions of more than $39,000 were received from 232 individuals, and we received a bequest of $4,534 in memory of Hugh H. Darby. Expenditures for the year totaled $45,757.
The Foundation noted with great sadness the passing of our long-time trustee and active supporter, James Wallace. Even while he served with distinction as president of the Cosmos Club, Jim found time to participate actively in the deliberations of the Foundation. His dry wit, insight, and wisdom will be sorely missed by all of us.
Once again we salute the Board of the Cosmos Club, and the many individuals who have so generously supported our work. We already have plans underway for several events that promise to make the coming year as significant and interesting as this one has been.
ALAN FERN, Chair