Stan Gault Honored for Going "Above and Beyond"

Receives Earl F. Morris Trustee Award from Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges

WOOSTER, Ohio, April 22 – Stanley C. Gault has been named the first recipient of the Earl F. Morris Trustee Award by The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges.

Gault, a member of The College of Wooster’s board of trustees for 28 years, and chairman for 13, received the award last night during the foundation’s annual Evening of Excellence dinner in Columbus, Ohio.

According to the foundation, the award is meant to recognize a trustee who has “demonstrated commitment and service above and beyond the norm to the guidance and betterment of the institution and its students.”

Born and raised just a few blocks from The College of Wooster, Gault has given his all to support the college and further its mission since the day he graduated, with a degree in geology, in 1948. He began by serving as class president for five years, followed by a stint on Wooster’s alumni board. In 1972 he was elected to the college’s board of trustees and in 1987 he became chairman of the board, a position he held until his retirement in 2000. He remains an active emeritus trustee.

During his 28-year tenure on the board, Gault chaired two successful capital campaigns, despite the demands of serving as chairman and CEO of two Fortune 500 companies — first Rubbermaid, then Goodyear.

“Stan, his wife Flo, and their family have been generous with more than just time,” said Wooster President Grant H. Cornwell. “Over the years, their gifts have allowed Wooster to build the Gault Admissions Center, the Flo K. Gault Library for Independent Study, a recital hall in the music center, and Gault Manor student residence hall, as well renovating a century-old home that became Gault Alumni Center, and dozens of smaller projects. It is no exaggeration to say that Stan’s generosity touches every Wooster student, from their first visit during the college search, through their return to campus as alumni.”

Gault’s commitment to the college is matched by his efforts to strengthen the Wooster community. He has been the driving force behind projects as varied as construction of a new high school, development of an arts center, and the renovation of a hundred-year-old buggy factory to house programs for substance abuse treatment and prevention. Those efforts led Smart Business magazine to write that since his retirement from Goodyear in 1996, Gault has been “making a second career out of civic-mindedness.”

The College of Wooster is an independent liberal arts college, nationally recognized for an innovative curriculum that emphasizes mentored, independent research. Each Wooster senior works one-on-one with a faculty adviser to create an original research project, written work, performance or art exhibit. Founded in 1866, the college enrolls approximately 1,800 students.