Dear Current and Former Board Members,
I’m writing to share the terribly sad news that Mary McLean Evans ’82, a member of Hamilton’s Advancement Office for more than 30 years, has died following an extended battle with cancer.
Simply put, Mary was extraordinary. She helped donors realize their philanthropic legacies, was a key advisor to several Hamilton presidents, and led a redesign of Career Center programming to respond to a changing hiring landscape for our students. Just 65 years old at the time of her death, she made an impact that would take most others seven or eight generations to develop. For more than three-quarters of her life – and likely more since her father, Russell McLean was himself a loyal 1943 Hamilton graduate – Mary was an integral part of the fabric of her alma mater. As a student, and then as an alumna, she worked tirelessly and with great enthusiasm to bring Hamiltonians together – she was the ultimate connector.
Mary matriculated into Hamilton’s first fully coed class, was elected to Pentagon, and was named the 1982 recipient of the James Soper Merrill Prize as the member of her class “who, in character and influence, has typified the highest ideals of the College.” She held multiple positions at Hamilton over her distinguished career, including serving as director of the Annual Fund, major gifts officer, and assistant vice president/executive director of the Maurice Horowitch Career Center.
From the very start of her Hamilton career, she made an indelible mark on the community. Within a year of graduating, she helped Hamilton land on the front page of the Chronicle of Higher Education with a story about the College’s new effort to engage recent graduates. To this day, the GOLD Group (Graduates Of the Last Decade) stands as the model used by many other institutions. Years later, while serving as executive director of the Career Center, the Chronicle came calling again – this time to learn more about First-Year Forward, another Mary Evans innovation.
Mary also served as managing director of the Committee of 200 and as vice president for presidential initiatives for The American University of Paris, but commitment to her alma mater drew her back to College Hill. She returned in 2022 to serve on the team that brought the Because Hamilton campaign to a successful conclusion.
In recognition of her incredible and lasting contributions to Hamilton on so many levels, and in conjunction with her selection as this year’s Bell Ringer Award, her friends – many of you among them – established an endowed scholarship in her name. The Mary McLean Evans Scholarship Fund, now valued at $1.2 million, includes an internship stipend that reflects Mary’s personal commitment to ensuring that students have access to experiences that help shape their career planning.
Mary lent her considerable talents to a number of nonprofit organizations, including St. Luke’s Faxton Hospital, the Kelberman Center, the Munson Williams Proctor Institute, and the Cameron Art Museum and St. James Episcopal Church in Wilmington, NC, where she lived.
Fittingly, her last gift to Hamilton was made in conjunction with her partner, Allen Van Dyke, to endow an internship fund. The inaugural recipient is Aksel Reid who, similar to Mary, is a science major from Minnesota. Aksel will conduct research this summer at the Masonic Medical Research Institute in Utica. A member of the NESCAC All-Academic Team, he was the starting goalie and NCAA tournament most outstanding player for the national champion men’s hockey team.
I had the honor and pleasure of contacting Mary earlier this year to congratulate her on being selected for the 2026 Bell Ringer Award. It was my first conversation with Mary, and she immediately made me feel like a close friend. That was her special gift, and she shared it with so many over her lifetime.
The Bell Ringer Award will be presented to Mary posthumously next month at Reunions. I hope you will consider joining the many friends and admirers who will gather to honor her incredible service to Hamilton and the enduring legacy she leaves behind.
Steven
Posted May 16, 2026
