A Cornell alumna and her family have donated $500,000 to establish an endowment for the university's Public Service Center, Susan H. Murphy, vice president for student and academic services, announced today (Dec. 5).

The endowment is the gift of Barbara H. Kaplan, Cornell Class of 1959; her husband, Leslie Kaplan; Douglas Kaplan, Class of 1988; and Emily Kaplan, Class of 1991.

Funds from the Kaplan Family Endowment for Public Service will be used to support two initiatives at the center, Murphy said. Those will include an annual speaker's event and two annual faculty service awards.

"We are thrilled to have the Kaplan family provide this landmark endowment for Cornell's Public Service Center," Murphy said. "Many of our faculty have made significant contributions to service learning, and we are pleased to be able to recognize their efforts and innovations with this gift. We also believe that the distinguished lecture series will complement the center's programs by providing our Cornell and Ithaca communities the opportunity to engage with national leaders in public service. This endowment is a perfect reflection of the goals of the center -- to provide the opportunity to launch Cornellians on a lifetime of service to their communities, just as the Kaplans have done."

The Kaplan Family Distinguished Lecture in Public Service will fund an annual lecture on the Cornell campus by an individual who has, by scholarship, work or public service, made a significant contribution to promoting civic engagement, service or social activism. A committee, including the vice president for student and academic services, the director of the Public Service Center, members of the Kaplan family, the vice provost for land grant affairs, the faculty coordinator for the Faculty Fellows in Service and a student, will select the speakers.

The Kaplan Family Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Service Award will provide two annual awards of $5,000 each to recognize faculty members who have made significant contributions to expanding the university's efforts in service learning. The awards will support the continuation of their work, either through summer support for course development or redesign, or for other support for their service-learning efforts during the academic year."What a wonderful feeling for our family to be able to share our good fortune with the Cornell community," said Barbara Kaplan, of Wynnewood, Pa., and Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. "It's only fair. Because it was Cornell that taught me the world was a place of limitless possibilities, not only for personal achievement but also for doing good.

"In providing this endowment for the Public Service Center, we are recognizing that one of the missions of education is to perpetuate the ideal of public service and community commitment. In the 21st century, we all have to extend ourselves, giving time and effort, not just money, to contribute to the common good," Kaplan said. "When you ask me about service, I learned it at Cornell."

Kaplan was creative director at N.W. Ayer & Sons Inc., an advertising agency in New York City, before founding her own agency, The Barbara Shop Inc., in Philadelphia.

She has a long-standing commitment to Cornell. She has served three terms as a member of the Cornell University Council, was co-president and president of the Class of 1959, led the Class of '59 Reunion projects and was chair of the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassadors Network Athletic Committee, among other activities. She received her bachelor's degree from the university's School of Industrial and Labor Relations in 1959.

Her support to Cornell has been widespread. In 1989 Kaplan established the Barbara Hirsch Kaplan Cornell Tradition Fellowship Fund to benefit students in need of financial assistance. In 1998 and 1999, she made substantial contributions to the Scholarship Challenge Campaign to establish the Kaplan Family Scholarship Fund. In addition, she has provided financial support to Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, men's hockey and women's soccer programs, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art and the Jewish Studies Program.

Kaplan also has a long-standing commitment to public service. She has served on the board of MANNA, the Metropolitan AIDS Assistance Network, for six years and chaired its record-breaking capital campaign. She is a trustee of Beth David Synagogue and has served on its board, as well as on the board of the Philadelphia Committee for Children and Youth. She helped found and served on the board of the Interfaith Hospitality Network of the Main Line, which provides food and shelter for the homeless, and she regularly cooks for the St. Barnabas Mission. She also has served on the board of the Philadelphia Festival for New Plays.

Leslie Kaplan is the former owner of Philadelphia Outdoor, an outdoor advertising company that owned billboards along expressways and bridges in Philadelphia and New Jersey. He is very involved with his alma mater, Rider University. He has served on the board of the Hockey Hall of Fame, and the Kaplans, along with Douglas and Emily Kaplan, were co-owners of the Lakeland (Florida) Prowlers, a Southern Hockey League team.

Douglas Kaplan is vice president and deputy general counsel at Sirius Satellite Radio in New York City and was formerly an associate at Cravath, Swaine and Moore. He is a member of the Cornell University Council and serves on the council's Athletics Alumni Advisory Committee. He is also the vice president of fund raising for the Class of '88. He supports men's hockey, women's lacrosse and the Class of 1988 Scholarship. He received his bachelor's degree from Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences in 1988 and graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1993.

Emily Kaplan received her bachelor's degree from Cornell's College of Human Ecology in 1991 and her master's degree in integrated marketing from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in 1993. She was director of marketing for the Philadelphia Phantoms before becoming management supervisor for Earle Palmer Brown, an advertising agency in New York City. She also served as vice president of marketing for the Lakeland Prowlers and served as a marketing consultant for Basketball City, the New Jersey Rockin' Rollers and for "Do Something." She currently is studying yoga in California.

In October, in recognition of a gift to the athletics campaign to establish the Kaplan Family Athletic Director's Discretionary Fund, the Varsity Room in Bartels Hall at Cornell was named the Kaplan Family Room.