It is with the greatest of sadness that I write to pass on the news of the passing of Alice Dempster, a wonderful and loyal alumna (1953) and friend of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. She was an articulate and active woman, who was very loyal to the Department and grateful for the education she received from us. She was one of the first of our students to be initiated into our chapter of Sigma Delta Pi, the National Spanish honorary, which was one of the first founded in the United States.
Several years ago, Alice endowed the Elizabeth H. Gad scholarship which provides funds for our students to study abroad on one of the Department’s programs. Her generosity was motivated by the desire to make sure that our students would continue to have the opportunity to do what she was not able to do when she was an undergraduate: participate in a study abroad program.
I was proud to call Alice a friend and in our last conversation we were still talking about how to get her here to Arizona again for another alumni weekend. I know all of us who had the opportunity to know her will miss her.
Professor Malcolm A. Compitello