Neal Broadus Abraham '72 and Donna L. Wiley
An accomplished teacher, scholar and academic administrator, Neal has been a Dickinson trustee since 2009. A scholarship recipient, Neal majored in physics and performed experimental plasma-physics research with Neil Wolf. He was editor-in-chief of The Dickinsonian, co-chair with George Allan of the college-governance committee and president of Student Senate. As a senior, he taught introductory physics labs and was a T.A. in humanities. Elected to ODK and CbBK, he graduated summa cum laude.
After earning his Ph.D. at Bryn Mawr College, Neal taught at Swarthmore College, Bryn Mawr, DePauw University and Mount Holyoke College. He pursued research in lasers and nonlinear dynamics with more than 70 undergraduates and many international collaborators. He was chief academic officer at DePauw and later directed the Five College Consortium.
A Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and two other professional societies, his work is widely published and often cited. He was awarded an Alexander van Humboldt Fellowship in 1986.
Neal and Donna have supported and played leadership roles in educational, environmental, cultural, and social-justice organizations. Longstanding Dickinson donors, they have supported scholarships, particularly the Howard L. Rubendall Senior Presidential Scholarship, and funded several facilities in Rector. In 2022 they established several named endowments to support student-faculty research in all fields and scholarships.
Location
Memorial Hall, Old West
