McDonald Observatory was founded on the gift of one single individual who used his estate to create a legacy that would endure for generations. Since that time, that same gift has created opportunity for millions of more individuals. The following donor stories highlight just a few of the great people who are making a difference for science education and astronomy through gift planning.

W. J. McDonald — The Gift That Started It All
Far-sighted banker William J. McDonald of Paris, Texas, left his estate to the University of Texas to build an astronomical observatory devoted to research and to educating the public. From this bequest has grown one of the country’s most renowned observatories, one of its top-ranked Departments of Astronomy, and one of the world’s most important sources of information in support of public knowledge about astronomy, perpetuating this forward-looking Texan’s wishes and his name.

John Cox — Equipping Students
In the early 1990s, lack of funds made it hard for the University of Texas at Austin Department of Astronomy to compete in attracting top graduate students. The bequest of the late member of the Board of Visitors, John Cox, changed that, providing for an endowment used by the Department for tuition, travel, and other student support.

Frank Bash
As a faculty member in the UT Austin Department of Astronomy since 1967 and as Director of McDonald Observatory from 1989 to 2003, I am very proud of the Texas Astronomy Program’s achievements, and I am very interested in its future.

I am particularly proud of the work of McDonald Observatory’s Education and Outreach Office, whose public programs are the most extensive of any observatory in the world. By reaching out to teachers and students today, we are helping interest more young people in careers in science, medicine, engineering, and other technical fields.

Some years ago my wife, Susan, and I made a planned gift to McDonald Observatory. First we took care of our retirements, our family, and other matters. It was then a simple matter of making the University a “contingent beneficiary” for some of my retirement funds.

Our lawyer advised us that it would be possible to make a gift to Texas Astronomy, out of our estate, of funds that otherwise would go to the federal government in estate taxes. So we wrote our wills so that the survivor makes a gift to McDonald Observatory when he or she dies.

Susan and I urge you to consider creating a legacy through a planned gift to the University of Texas at Austin Astronomy Program, using whatever gift vehicle works best for your and your family.

Your support will make an enormous difference for future generations.

Justine Miller
I am thrilled to include a gift to McDonald Observatory in my estate planning. I want to give something back for a wonderful experience I had when I was young and for a subject I deeply believe in.

In 1957 the Russians launched Sputnik, and this event sparked an interest in space that had not existed in our society. Teachers started scheduling planetarium shows for their classes, scouts wanted to learn more, and even adults became curious and excited about the possibility of space travel.

I was fortunate to be working at a museum in Dallas, which housed a planetarium. I had training in speech and drama, and I was comfortable speaking in public, so I fell right into the job of giving lectures in the planetarium. Astronomy buffs stuffed my head with facts and figures related to the stars, planets, galaxies, etc. while I learned to smoothly operate the large planetarium machine in total darkness. We had music and special effects, and scripts written by experts. It was a wonderful job. Later I bought an 8–inch telescope and spent the wee hours of the morning in my backyard stargazing. I was awed by the beauty and mystery of our universe.

Although my life took other directions and I eventually forgot the figures and facts, I will never forget such a fascinating and inspiring experience. There is so much knowledge out there for us to learn! I think exploring space and finding another home should be on of mankind’s important goals. At age 68, I am happy to make a contribution to this research after all these years.

Sandra Preston
Assistant Director for Education and Outreach
McDonald Observatory

As assistant director for education and outreach at McDonald Observatory, I work each day to ensure our educational programs are effective, inspirational, and challenging for the teachers and students who need them.

After working nearly thirty years in K–12 science education, I am a true believer in the Observatory’s mission and purpose, as well as the enormous difference that excellent science resources make in classrooms nationwide.

What’s more, I believe that giving today’s young people a solid foundation in science and mathematics is a gift that will help them individually as much as it will help our nation as a whole.

I also know the impact a single donor can have on the Observatory’s educational programs and resources.

So when it came time to think about how to handle my own estate planning, I very quickly realized the legacy I could create for McDonald Observatory by doing something as simple as including the Observatory as a beneficiary in my will.

Making this planned gift is the best way I know how to give back to an organization that has blessed me (by giving me a meaningful career), as well as equipped and encouraged thousands of teachers and students over the years.

Making a planned gift is something that anyone can do — no matter the nature or complexity of one’s estate or resources. It’s also a way to give a gift that lasts more than just a lifetime.

With this planned gift, I join others who are making a lasting difference in McDonald Observatory’s educational mission. The best part is that this gift allows me to continue giving, just as the Observatory continues serving thousands more teachers and students now and years from now.

Jim Johnson

It doesn’t take a monumental event to spark a lifelong passion that directs the thrust of one’s life and giving. Just ask Jim Johnson, who — along with his wife Coleen Quinn — support The University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory as members of the Observatory’s Orion Circle donor group.

Holding up a well-loved copy of Find the Constellations, by H.A. Rey, Jim recounts a story his mother told him over the years: Coming home from school one day at the age of seven, he unzipped his backpack, pulled out Find the Constellations, which he’d checked out from the library, and exclaimed, “Do you realize they have books like this at school?!” That Christmas, a personal copy lay wrapped under the tree for him.

From there, his interest in science and astronomy only grew, and involved such pursuits as backyard observing, grinding a telescopic lens by hand with a friend while in graduate school, and, in 2004, traveling to Spain with Coleen to observe the transit of Venus.

Jim first became aware of McDonald Observatory through its internationally broadcast StarDate Radio program, then through a subscription to its sister publication StarDate Magazine. In 2002, he and his wife joined the Orion Circle, making annual donations to the Observatory’s Education and Outreach Office, which serves thousands of K–12 students and teachers annually by providing hands-on science curricula for use inside and outside the classroom.

McDonald Observatory is a place he likes to talk up to family and friends, he says, and in 2009, he and Coleen made a bequest to the Observatory in support of the research and education and outreach taking place there. It is a gift that creates a legacy honoring his own love of learning, while equipping future generations to pursue science in the same life-changing way he has experienced.

While visiting the Observatory in West Texas some years ago, he and his wife were at the Astronomers’ Lodge — the Observatory’s on-site residence for visiting astronomers — when they engaged in conversation with an astronomy graduate student from Greece. Jim recounts that she told them how she’s done research at other fine observatories worldwide, but that her work is always directed through an on-site astronomer who controls the telescope for her. At McDonald Observatory, he says, she reveled in the fact that she could have the telescope for the night to operate without an intermediary. “It really is a unique facility,” he says.

“I’ve always been interested in science, in general,” Jim says, citing the curiosity that science invites as a main cause for his interest in the field. As evidence, he references a quote by Carl Sagan: Somehwere, something incredible is waiting to be known.

“That’s one of the things I love most about science,” he says. “That there’s always so much more to learn.”

Like others who engage in philanthropy, Jim says he and his wife wanted to give back in a meaningful way for all they’ve received, both educationally and career-wise. Making a bequest to the Observatory was, for them, a way to do just that.

 “There are zillions of worthy causes,” he says, “but some things seem more transitory, and finding out about the universe is a lot more interesting to me . . . something I want to support.”

Learn more about how you can create a legacy to benefit science education today.