The Rochester Institute of Technology bid farewell this weekend to outgoing President Bill Destler and his wife, Dr. Rebecca Johnson, and as part of the farewell ceremonies they announced a gift of $3.6 million in their honor.
The money came from a group including trustees, members if the RIT leadership team, alumni, parents and community members. All of them stepped up to support a fund in honor of the Destler’s leadership these past ten years.
Part of the money endows a Dr. Rebecca Johnson Sustainability Champion award for research advancing sustainability at RIT, with special priority to measures directly benefitting students. The university is donating $770,000 to the Rochester City Schools for its Scholars Program, which the couple founded seven years ago. The rest goes to other university scholarship funds and uses.