New Experiential Learning Fund Honors Two Sisters with Decades of Service on College Admission Staff

Two Grinnell sisters who served Grinnell College's Admission Office with distinction for many decades are being honored with a new experiential learning fund that carries their name.

Katie (Kathleen) Brown Anderson '49 and Mary Lou Brown '56 have a combined 99 years of service in the Grinnell admission office. Ed Senn '79 worked for them as a student tour guide during his sophomore, junior and senior years at the college.

Now a vice president at Verizon and a leader on the college's Alumni Council, Senn says that the sisters taught him the value of hard work, perseverance and making a good first impression.

And so he has established the Katie Brown Anderson '49 and Mary Lou Brown '56 Experiential Learning Endowed Fund, designed to help Grinnell recruit the best students, provide them with challenging opportunities and support them as they prepare to graduate. In particular, Grinnell's Career Development Office will use the fund to support student externships, internships and other initiatives.

"Katie and Mary Lou were shining examples of the Grinnell spirit for generations of students," Senn said. "They gave meaning to the Grinnell Experience and provided equal amounts of support, humor and whimsy for prospective students and their guides."

About Katie Brown Anderson '49 and Mary Lou Brown '56 Katie Brown Anderson '49 began her nearly five-decade career with Grinnell College in 1948, and held a variety of jobs in the Office of Admissions and Student Aid before being named associate director of admission in 1986. Mary Lou Brown '56 joined her sister on the admission staff in 1950, when she enrolled at Grinnell, and worked in the office throughout her time as a student at Grinnell. Brown became the assistant director of admissions for office operation in 1975, and later served as associate director.

Both sisters retired from Grinnell's admission staff on March 27, 1998.

During the first years of retirement they traveled extensively, seeing almost every state and enjoying cruises to the Caribbean. For 10 years, Mary Lou volunteered for hospice, and Katie assembled a number of detailed memory books. Together they continue to enjoy preparing family dinners for holidays, as well as tending to their large lawn and flowers.

Anderson and Brown say they are truly honored by Ed's establishment of this fund. "Ed was an outstanding tour guide who always made sure students and parents had a memorable campus visit."

About Ed Senn After graduating from Grinnell with a degree in biology in 1979, Ed Senn worked as a field organizer for John Anderson's 1980 presidential campaign in Boston, Austin, Kansas City and Pittsburgh. From 1981 until 1990, he served as the legislative director for Congressman Tom Tauke (R.-Iowa), focusing on energy, environment and telecommunications legislation. After his years on Capitol Hill, Senn worked as a federal lobbyist, first for NYNEX, then Bell Atlantic, and finally for Verizon Communications. As Verizon's vice president of state public policy and government relations since 2006, Senn focuses on state public policy issues across the country.

A member of Grinnell's Alumni Council since 2010, Senn currently chairs the group's stewardship committee and volunteers for the Grinnell Regional Admission Support Program.

The Anderson/Brown Experiential Endowed Learning Fund is not the first time that Senn has honored members of the Grinnell staff; in 2003 he established the Jenny Erickson Endowed Scholarship (named for the college's director of the Forum), and in 2009 he created the John and Emily Pfitsch Scholarship (which honors Grinnell's legendary athletic director and his wife). Both of these funds provide support to current students while honoring staff members who influenced Senn during his time at Grinnell.

Senn also serves on the board of the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington and is a member of the St. Andrew's Society of Washington, D.C, the Society of Colonial Wars, and the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. He regularly participates in RAGBRAI, the Des Moines Register's Great Bicycle Ride across Iowa.

About Grinnell College Since its founding in 1846, Grinnell has become one of the nation's premier liberal arts colleges, enrolling 1,600 students from all 50 states and from as many international countries. Grinnell offers the B.A. degree in a range of departments across the humanities, arts and sciences, and the college's rigorous academic program emphasizes excellence in education for students in the liberal arts. Grinnell has a strong tradition of social responsibility and action, and self-governance and personal responsibility are key components of campus life. M