Adele Diamond '74 Uses an Estate Commitment to Support World-Improving Undergraduate Research Projects

Adele Diamond

For Adele Diamond ’74, improving the world is what it’s all about. That’s why her legacy gift will support undergraduate research that breaks new ground and improves life for everyone.

Diamond came to Swarthmore seeking the freedom to pursue her passions. Through her estate commitment, she will enable future students to pursue their own original research projects.

“I want to make it possible for students to do research on something that is uniquely theirs,” she says. “I really want to prioritize fields where it’s harder to get funding and where the project has a real possibility to make the world a better place.”

While working on her senior honors thesis on the effects of school integration, Diamond learned how hard it can be to obtain funding for undergraduate research. Her legacy gift seeks to remedy that problem.

Diamond’s gift establishes the Mildred Golden Diamond P’74 and Adele Diamond ’74 Independent Undergraduate Research Opportunity Fund. Named for Diamond’s mother, it also honors Professors Emeriti Steven Piker and Donald Swearer.

A 2020 honorary degree recipient, Diamond urges fellow alumni to consider creating a legacy gift.

“People should think about giving to Swarthmore to further their own goals for what they would like their legacy to be,” she says. “Swarthmore is an outstanding way to do that because it’s nurturing young people, many of whom are going to do amazing things. It’s not just nurturing their intellect but their values so that they can make the world a better place.”