Meeting the most pressing needs: Lynn Dillon ’75 and John Dillon ’75 lead by example with their new, unrestricted endowment
“Helping at formative or critical times for certain organizations has been very rewarding. Being able to be hands-on, meeting and working with others, seeing the results of what you do, witnessing the benefit over time; there's nothing more inspiring than that.”
Lynn Dillon is describing her motivations for giving back to the community and to her alma mater, William & Mary, over the past several decades. In recent years, Lynn, along with her husband, John Dillon, have become especially involved in W&M’s Batten School & VIMS, including Lynn's service on the VIMS Foundation (VIMSF) Board. Ahead of their 50th graduation anniversary, the couple decided to create an unrestricted fund to help the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences & VIMS meet their most pressing needs while developing science for solutions.
“I think the real value of the Batten School & VIMS is truly having an impact for coastal communities, through both economic resilience and marine environment sustainability,” said Lynn. “When we were first thinking about the gift, we considered some narrow channels of support for specific uses, but the more I learned during [VIMSF] Board meetings, the more I realized the need for unrestricted current dollars was more important.” John agreed, “I think VIMS is a hidden jewel, something that has tremendous impact. Creating a fund with broader reach just seemed to make more sense.”
The environment has been a lifelong interest for Lynn and, after meeting Batten School Dean & VIMS Director Derek Aday, she said the decision to join the VIMSF Board in 2023 was easy. “I was very flattered, very honored to be involved in the great mission, the operations and the leadership here,” she said. “And having the opportunity to help with development and thinking through strategies and engagement really appealed to me.”
A retired former senior vice president at Bank One, Lynn now leans on her professional background in banking and corporate finance as the Chair of the VIMSF Board’s Development Committee, a group tasked with outreach and engagement with prospective donors. “My career in banking was managing teams of people; we worked with Fortune 500 companies to build meaningful and lasting relationships,” she said. “That experience of learning to understand what someone needs, ask questions, realize competitive dynamics; many of those same qualities are in a development role.”
The Dillons’ unrestricted endowment comes at an exciting time for the Batten School & VIMS, following a recent pair of historic gifts—$100 million from Jane Batten HON ’17, L.H.D. ’19 and $50 million from Todd Stravitz ’82. “The visibility of the whole organization has risen as a result of those two incredible gifts,” said Lynn.
However, she continued, “part of our challenge now is that while those gifts are filling some very big needs, they're not meeting the current need for operating cash. Having the flexibility and the access to current funds to use for the highest needs are critical. If you lose any overhead funding, you're not coming close to what you need. So, obviously, we need to continue the momentum and build current-use funds and create sustainability in terms of funding for the Batten School & VIMS.”
John echoed those sentiments, pointing back to the importance of unrestricted funds, like their new endowment. “Things change every day,” he said. “Unrestricted funds allow VIMS to move in the directions they need to move.”
The Dillons are comfortable allowing their funds to be unrestricted because, according to Lynn, “with the clarity of the vision and strategy here, our belief in leadership and management is very high. Knowing that the investments from the Batten and Stravitz gifts will only continue to attract high quality students, researchers and leadership, we have every confidence that unrestricted funding supports everyone in that universe.”
Both Lynn and John say that giving back to W&M over the past 50 years has been incredibly rewarding, and they’re thrilled to be a part of the transformational new chapter at the Batten School & VIMS. “The leadership of [W&M] President Rowe and of Dean & Director Aday motivates all of us to want to do more,” said Lynn. “You just sense the change, the energy, the focus, the commitment to missions that not only serve the students but also support the community and the nation at large. It is an exciting time to be involved.”