Alumni Spotlight

Neil Borman '65

"Moore" Support

Neil Borman '65

For generations, local schoolchildren have come to the Earlham campus to visit the Joseph Moore Museum. They've stared in wonder at the mastodon, studied the plumage of area birds and gained an important educational experience. Throughout the years, a succession of generous donors maintained this experience, recognizing the value of the museum through community outreach and scholarly research.

Neil Borman '65 is one of those supporters. He and his family have contributed financially to the museum, as well as to several science programs including chemistry and biology, through a family foundation. These gifts, along with many others from the College's generous alumni, have allowed Earlham to continue its distinctive approach to the sciences.

Borman first recognized Earlham's distinction back in 1961 when he made the decision to attend the College over other schools he researched. He and his high school dean considered several schools strong in history and chemistry, and in the end, Borman was attracted by Earlham's often-quoted motto: "They gathered sticks and kindled a fire and left it burning."

Following his undergraduate study in chemistry, Borman earned two master's degrees and his Ph.D., and spent 33 years in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries for Geigy Chemical Corp., which later became Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp. During 32 of those years, he also served in the U.S. Army/Army Reserves. Borman fulfilled the requirements for the Diplomat American Board of Toxicology from 1991-2006, and since retirement has taught pharmacology part-time at Fairleigh Dickinson University and mentored research projects at the College of St. Elizabeth.

Throughout his life, he regularly contributed to charitable causes. Recently, when he and his family became able to give larger and more specific gifts, Borman immediately focused on education.

"We heavily support education and Earlham had a need for museum funding for the Joseph Moore Museum," Borman explained. "I'd read stories from other campuses about the difficulty of finding money for museum preservation, so I thought this could make a difference."

First opened in the 1840s, Joseph Moore Museum is the regional natural history museum for eastern Indiana, providing opportunities for Earlham students to have hands-on experience working in a museum. Students learn about the fields of zoology, botany, anthropology, geology, education and applied arts while curating the collection. Features of the museum include Ta'an, the Egyptian mummy, a 15,000-year-old mastadon skeleton, the only virtually complete giant beaver skeleton in the world, the Ralph Teetor Planetarium and several collections of local flora and fauna — including 5,000 bird specimens. Students also provide tours and planetarium shows for visitors, maintain the live animal collections, and design and build exhibits, while being guided by natural science faculty members, including current director John Iverson, a professor of biology at the College.

Borman felt the museum was especially valuable because of the educational outreach opportunity it gives to the local schools, because "education does not begin in high school." More than 2,500 elementary students visit the Joseph Moore Museum annually.

The museum allows these school children to discover and study paleontology, biology and astronomy through the different exhibits, and encourages hands-on participation in the Discovery Room.

The student presence in the day-to-day operations of the museum and the outreach to regional elementary schools made the Joseph Moore Museum an appealing option for Borman when he sought to support the College.

"I believe in the ethics of Earlham — a quality education in an ethical environment," Borman said, "and I think you have a responsibility to support things you believe in. We're not funding just a piece of equipment or some supplies. We're helping to support and train a group of kids with values and ethics."