The College of William & Mary has received a $3 million gift from an alumnus and former rector to establish a new venue exploring the university’s history and to create a scholarship fund for law school students.
The gift from Henry C. Wolf and his wife, Dixie Davis Wolf, will establish the 1779 Scholars Fund for students at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law and the Wolf Gallery of the History of the College of William & Mary, a section of the Muscarelle Museum of Art that will explore the storied institution’s history, according to a news release from William & Mary Associate Vice President of Communications and University Relations Brian Whitson.
“We are so very grateful, once again, to Hank and Dixie Wolf for their generosity and friendship over the years,” William & Mary President Taylor Reveley said in a news release announcing the gift. “Their gift celebrates the university’s storied place in our nation’s history.”
Reveley said the Wolf Gallery would feature university artifacts, including “many that illustrate William & Mary’s impact on America.” The initial display may include a trophy given to the university by Amelia Earhart to acknowledge the first flying club.
“Our gift to the Muscarelle Museum of Art is intended to provide a source of funds that will help facilitate the construction of new facilities for a very special museum in the midst of our community,” Dixie Davis Wolf said in the release.
“The portion of the Wolfs’ gift that will benefit the museum is a tremendous infusion of support for our goal to achieve a larger, expanded facility,” Muscarelle Museum Director Aaron H. De Groft said in the release.
The 1779 Scholars Fund will provide financial support to students at the law school. In a joint statement, the Wolfs said they are “delighted” to establish the fund, which will “make it possible for deserving law students to have access to an outstanding legal education.”
“The creation of the Wolf Scholars program will be of enormous benefit to the law school,” William & Mary Law School Dean Davison M. Douglas said in the release. “This endowment will help us attract those students who have demonstrated tremendous academic excellence, as well as a commitment to the greater good.”
This is not the Wolfs first gift to the law school. In 2007, the renovated and expanded law library was renamed the Wolf Law Library in recognition of gifts made by the couple in honor of Anne Wolf, according to the release.
Henry Wolf received his bachelor’s degree in economics from William & Mary in 1964 and his law degree in 1966. Dixie Davis Wolf was declared an honorary alumna in 2010 by the William & Mary Alumni Association, which gives that honor to people who have “demonstrated a lasting commitment and genuine affinity for the College,” according to the release.
Henry Wolf spent more than 34 years with Norfolk Southern Corporation, retiring in 2007 as the vice chairman. He also spent 14 years as the chief financial officer. He worked as a law clerk for the U.S. Tax Court and an attorney for the Internal Revenue Service early in his career. He also spent four years in the U.S. Army, where he attained the rank of captain in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
He spent eight years on William & Mary’s Board of Visitors, including a two-year stint as vice rector and a two-year term as rector, which ended in July 2011.
Dixie Davis Wolf, who graduated from the University of New Orleans, is a trustee for the College of William & Mary Foundation and the Muscarelle Museum of Art. She worked as an educator in public schools in Virginia and Maryland. She is a founding member of the Civic Leadership Institute of Hampton Roads, an emeritus member of the Hampton Roads Board of Governors of the Virginia Opera and a former member and chair of the Chrysler Museum of Art’s Board of Trustees.
