Colby is pleased to accept two gifts totaling $200,000 from the Alan and Gay Quimby Auerbach Trust to support the College’s Economics Department.

 

Gay Quimby Auerbach ’73 majored in English and classics at Colby and took a single economics course during her time on Mayflower Hill, taught by the late Grossman Professor of Economics Jan Hogendorn.

 

She wishes she had taken more STEM and economics courses and hopes the couple’s gift will allow the department to continue to grow and thrive. “I feel very strongly that voters should understand the basics of economics and how economists think about important policy matters. I would love to see every undergraduate take economics,” she said.

 

Alan Auerbach is the Robert D. Burch Professor of Economics and Law and director of the Robert D. Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance at the University of California, Berkeley. The Auerbachs made the gift “in honor of Alan’s profession,” Gay Auerbach said.The couple met during graduate school at Harvard. “I went to graduate school for English, and he was a Ph.D. candidate in economics. I left with a master’s degree, and he became a public finance economist,” she said.

 

Although they live on the West Coast, Auerbach returns to Maine frequently to visit family and friends. She enjoys touring the Colby College Museum of Art, and is pleased with Colby’s investment in downtown Waterville.

 

“Investing in the community is smart economics,” she said. “The College originally was downtown, and it’s obvious that Colby takes downtown Waterville very seriously. I like what they are doing in Waterville very much.”

 

“Supporting departments or programs that are important to you with no restrictions is an incredible opportunity for the College. It really is a win-win for the donor and Colby,“ says Brooke Carter Sukhavasi, senior associate director of Gift Planning. “It has enabled the Auerbachs to have the impact they want but the department still has the flexibility to use the funds for their greatest needs.”

 

Auerbach said the couple plans to continue supporting economics at Colby, and hopes their gift inspires others to donate. “I would like to encourage other people to join us. A gift like this is a great way to make a real impact on subjects and topics of interest to you.”