Philanthropy Impact Report 2026

Dr. William Becker spent nearly four decades shaping the character of GW’s Department of History, publishing cornerstone scholarship on economic history, serving as Chair multiple times, and taking students under his wing. An eminent scholar of the history of American business, economy policy, and international financial institutions, Dr. Becker also was known among colleagues as a champion of student research.

After his passing in 2024, his friends and family were eager to celebrate his impact through a new fund that could memorialize his values as a scholar with a passion for teaching. Starting with generous key gifts from the professor’s daughter, Lauren Becker Robertson, and his brother, Donald Becker, the History community successfully crowdfunded for a new endowment in his honor. The William H. Becker Economic History Prize will be awarded annually to a graduate or undergraduate student who has demonstrated excellence in economic history. The inaugural prize was awarded to PhD candidate Matthew Rohn (pictured at left) who is studying African American migration and economic mobility in the Gilded Age.

The Becker Prize will ensure the lasting legacy of the late Dr. Becker by encouraging generations of students to pursue economic historical research.

Dr. Vincent Thomy, MA ‘68, PhD ‘72, sees his decades-long career as a successful psychologist as the result of a cycle of generosity — a cycle that he plans to continue at Columbian College. In his own words, “I want to pay it back the only way I know how — to pay it forward.” Raised in small town South Carolina, Dr. Thomy got his first taste of academia through a generous financial aid package at Duke University. As he explored professional interests, he began law school but quickly realized it was not a good match for his interests. Dr. Thomy transferred mid-year into the Master’s of Psychology program at the George Washington University and quickly found the intellectual engagement he was craving. Dr. Bernard Levy, who was at that time the chair of the Psychological & Brain Sciences Program, took notice of the young student’s enthusiasm and academic achievement. Although Dr. Thomy missed the deadline to formally apply for PhD funding, Dr. Levy made sure that a doctoral program fellowship offer made its way into his student mailbox. 

Now, Dr. Thomy has made an estate bequest so future students can have the same financial support. The Vincent A. Thomy, Jr., PhD Graduate Fellowship will support psychology graduate students, with a preference for those on the clinical track. When he thinks about these future students who will benefit from this estate gift, Dr. Thomy reflects on the importance of new students entering into clinical spaces because “it keeps you fresh.” In making advanced studies more accessible to CCAS students, Vincent hopes they can pursue the core principles of psychology as a discipline devoted to the importance of human connection.

Last year, the Anthropology Department mourned the loss of Professor Emerita Ruth Krulfeld who retired in 2003 after 37 years of teaching and research, plus two stints as chair and an appointment in the Elliott School of International Studies. “She really balanced the explorer side of sociocultural anthropology with research methods,” her son Mike Krulfeld said. “She was both out there doing the cool fieldwork, but then she cared about the nitty-gritty of teaching standards and practices for anthropology.” Upon her passing, Mike decided to honor his mother’s dual commitment to the scholarly and pedagogical sides of her discipline by establishing a new endowed fund.

Thanks to his generosity, the Ruth Krulfeld Research Award for Anthropology will provide support to high-achieving students pursuing anthropological research projects, with a preference for undergraduates in the same sub-discipline as Dr. Krulfeld: sociocultural anthropology. Mike remembers his childhood years when Dr. Krulfeld worked closely with the Laotian refugee community in the DMV area, writing about their religious and cultural practices while teaching at GW. “My mom — her heart was into applying sociocultural research to people in a way that could potentially help them… and she was able to parlay that excitement to her students and others in the field,” Mike said. Dr. Krulfeld’s legacy will be cemented through this Award which provides critical resources to students getting their first taste of research. Now working in postsecondary education himself, Mike hopes that the student recipients will be guided by his mother’s ethos of approaching fieldwork in pursuit of genuine human connection.