UNH Today

For nearly 50 years, Robert Morin ’63 worked as a cataloguer in Dimond Library. He was known to live simply, and few suspected he had quietly amassed a $4 million estate.

When he died just over a year ago, he gifted his estate to UNH.

“Bob’s demonstrated commitment to UNH through his philanthropy is tremendously inspiring,” says UNH President Mark Huddleston. “His generous gift allows us to address a number of university priorities."

The only dedicated gift in Morin’s bequest was $100,000 to Dimond Library. It will provide scholarships for work-study students, support staff members who continue their studies in library science and fund the renovation of one of the library’s multimedia rooms.

"As an alumnus, Bob would be pleased to know that a majority of his estate, $2.5 million, will help to launch an expanded and centrally located career center for our students and alumni," Huddleston notes. "We are committed to providing the resources needed to ensure every student achieves professional success and Bob’s gift will play a major role in that effort.”

Another $1 million will support a video scoreboard for the new football stadium. In the last 15 months of his life, Morin lived in an assisted living center where he started watching football games on television, mastering the rules and names of the players and teams.

Deborah Dutton, vice president for advancement and president of the UNH Foundation, notes Morin’s gift is especially powerful and tremendously helpful.

“Unrestricted gifts give the university the ability to use the funds for our highest priorities and emerging opportunities," she says. "This is an extraordinary gift that comes at a critical time for launching a number of initiatives that are only able to move forward because of his generosity.”

Morin also had a passion for watching movies, and from 1979 to 1997 he watched more than 22,000 videos. Following this feat, he switched his attention to books. He read, in chronological order, every book published in the U.S. from 1930 to 1940  — excluding children’s books, textbooks and books about cooking and technology. At the time of his death he had reached 1,938, the year of his birth.