RICHARD + CATHERINE HAINING

risd connection: parents of Richard Haining ’05, who is majoring in Furniture Design; vice chairs of the RISD Parents’ Council

about the donors: The Hainings live in Atlanta, GA, and enjoy being involved with RISD through their son and their volunteer work for the Parents’ Council. Dick recently retired from Montag & Caldwell, one of the oldest investment advisory firms in the South, where he was a vice president and investment counselor, while Catherine is a graduate of Salem College in Winston-Salem, NC.

type of gift: The Hainings recently established the Haining Family Endowed Scholarship Fund with a gift of $100,000.

rationale: One factor in the decision to establish the scholarship was hearing their son talk about a RISD classmate who was struggling to pay for his education. “My father was the first in his family to finish high school, and the first to finish college as well. Financial aid helped him on his way,” says Dick. “We are fortunate that my business did well in the last 20 years and that we have assets to share,” he adds. “We believe it is so important to give back — not just plow your money into new projects.”

why risd? Catherine believes her son has come into his own since transferring to RISD from a liberal arts college. “Richard has always enjoyed working with his hands and been good at art,” she says, but he was always less motivated in other subject areas. Now that he is at RISD, “it’s all coming together, and he is doing well in his art courses and his liberal arts courses. He has found what he loves to do, so he is willing to branch out.” The Hainings hope that their scholarship gift will help students in need find their own niche at RISD.