Yale Bulletin and Calendar

November 22, 2002|Volume 31, Number 12|Two-Week Issue

Family's gift supports environmental studies major

Father and son Edgar Cullman Sr. '40 and Edgar Cullman Jr. '68 have made a gift to the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES) to support its involvement in Yale's new undergraduate major in environmental studies.

The Yale College alumni say they hope their gift will help create men and women who understand that "everything we do on this earth has an impact on the environment."

Faculty from both Yale College and F&ES teach courses in the new environmental studies major; more than one-third of the classes are taught by F&ES faculty members.

"One of the things that distinguishes Yale in the best sense is that undergraduates get access to the best professors Yale can offer," Edgar Cullman Jr. noted.

He also pointed out that his daughter, Georgina, who graduated from Yale College this year, was already entering her senior year last fall when the University announced its new undergraduate environmental studies major. She majored in biology, but would have enjoyed the opportunity to major in environmental studies, Edgar Cullman Jr. said.

The Cullmans believe that both the environment and industry can benefit by having more environmental studies majors enter the business world.

"I'm proud Yale wants to offer this major because I think all of us need to understand how we live together, and be concerned with protecting the environment and protecting industry that needs products grown from the earth," said Edgar Cullman Sr. "Whether we're talking about the timber business or crops for feeding our country, we need to find out how that can be properly conducted while being environmentally friendly. It's important for undergraduates to understand that the industrial sector is interested in doing that."

The Cullmans are both senior executives at General Cigar Co., Inc. Edgar Cullman Jr. says he respects the work of F&ES and the school's dean, James Gustave Speth, in fostering collaboration between environmental groups and businesses and away from confrontation.

"Most responsible businessmen come to the conclusion that it's better business to be interested in the environment than not," says the junior Cullman. "One of the enduring features of American business, of Yankee ingenuity, is our developing processes that work well for business and well for the environment."

The Cullmans have also encouraged a balanced approach to environmental studies at Yale, with a focus on the interdisciplinary relationship of the environment with business, technology, law, politics, governance and other related areas.

In thanking the Cullmans for their gift, Speth said that "interdisciplinary, integrative teaching, including bringing the economy and the environment together, is a defining characteristic of our school, and is -- and will remain -- at the core of our undergraduate teaching."

The Cullmans' gift to support this initiative is just the latest philanthropic gesture from this family of Yale alumni. In 1997, Lewis B. Cullman '41, Edgar Sr.'s brother, established the Cullman Joint Doctoral Program Fund, which links F&ES with the New York Botanical Garden. Last year, another brother, Joseph F. Cullman 3rd '35, established the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd '35 Professorship at F&ES, which focuses on teaching and research in the areas of wildlife, ecology and biodiversity.

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