An endowed fund has been established at Cornell in honor of a distinguished alumnus who died in January. The Charles T. Stewart '40 Fund for the College of Arts and Sciences will support the college in perpetuity.

Patricia Carry Stewart '50 recently made the gift to Cornell in her husband's memory to benefit the College of Arts and Sciences and Weill Cornell Medical College. She requested that other gifts in Charles Stewart's honor go to the Annual Fund in Arts and Sciences, unless donors designate otherwise.

The unrestricted endowment in Stewart's name will create a continuous stream of discretionary funding for current and future deans of Arts and Sciences to address the most pressing needs and priorities of the college, according to Alumni Affairs and Development. Stewart was a supporter of the college's Annual Fund, which provides support for student-led initiatives, innovative research and teaching, faculty recruitment and retention, new program initiatives, and critical building enhancements. The new endowment will support the same types of initiatives.

"This is a wonderful gift from a close friend of the college," said G. Peter Lepage, the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "The discretionary funds it generates will carry forward the Stewarts' history of thoughtful, active involvement."

Charles Stewart, also known as Chuck, was a third-generation Cornellian. He was elected to the University Council in 1953 and served as a trustee from 1963-83. He was named trustee emeritus in 1983 and appointed a presidential councillor in 1984. Stewart also served on the Weill Cornell Medical College Board of Overseers and on the advisory councils of the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Human Ecology.

He had a professional career in law and guided young legal professionals as an adjunct professor at New York University Law School in 1980-85 and at his graduate alma mater, the Cardoza Law School at Yale University, in 1978-80. He also served as chair of the YMCA of Greater New York (1983-85) and as a director of the Legal Aid Society of New York City (1979-85). Patricia Carry Stewart also is a trustee emeritus, presidential councilor and member of the Weill Cornell Board of Overseers. She co-founded the President's Council of Cornell Women.

In 1995 the Cornell Board of Trustees recognized the Stewarts as "foremost benefactors" of Cornell. They received the Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award in 2002.