NAGT receives estate donations from Maria Luisa and William Crawford

NAGT is grateful to have received a substantial contribution from the estates of Maria Luisa and William Crawford, totaling nearly $1 million. The gift marks the culmination of the Crawfords' long history of donating to support Scholarships for Field Study, which NAGT administers in partnership with the Association for Women Geoscientists. Approximately half of the gift (from the individual estates of Maria Luisa and William) is designated for the endowed funds that support these scholarships, which will allow us to increase the number and amount of scholarships we can offer, starting in 2026.

The other half of the gift from Maria Luisa's estate is unrestricted and comes to us at a fortuitous time, when we have drawn down our reserve fund to maintain our programming and operations. We are stewarding these funds carefully, replenishing our reserve fund and considering ways to catalyze activities to expand our high-quality programming while securing our financial future.

Maria Luisa Crawford was a phenomenal geoscientist, educator, and mentor, as described in her obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer. She was named a MacArthur Fellow in 1993 to continue her work as geologist and petrologist. She had a keen interest in promoting the participation of women in geoscience, and served as chairperson of the Women Geoscientists Committee. That committee documented the proportions of women geoscience students at different levels and their career choices in the early 1970s, publishing an article in NAGT's Journal of Geological Education (as it was then called) in 1976 entitled Career Choices for Women—The Geosciences. With co-authors Judith Moody and Jan Tullis, Crawford followed the JGE article with an article in Geology in 1977 entitled Women in Academia: Students and Professors, in which the authors documented the proportions of women students, graduates, and professors at different ranks. Ten years later, in 1987, the same team published Women in Academia: Students and Professors Revisited. The very low proportion of women faculty persisted, though they reported small overall increases. These studies led Crawford to find ways to support women in pursuing geoscience and careers in academia, including through the field scholarship program.

We are incredibly grateful for Maria Luisa Crawford's work, both her and her husband's long-running support of NAGT, and the gifts from their trusts that will ensure her lasting legacy of helping geoscience students get into the field and pursue careers as geoscientists and geoscience educators.

If you are interested in having a long-term impact with your giving, you can learn more about our funds and other ways to give to NAGT and contact Executive Director Anne Egger; exdir@nagt.org.