Genworth president gives $1.5M to W&M

William & Mary has established a new postdoctoral fellowship in its Global Research Institute, funded by a $1.5 million gift from Genworth Financial Inc. President and CEO Tom McInerney, the college announced Wednesday.

The fellowship will advance the GRI’s international study and research collaborations. A multidisciplinary hub, the institute has facilitated applied research projects in collaboration with organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, the World Bank, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Defense and the United Nations.

“I think William & Mary is a fantastic school, one of the best in the country and the world,” McInerney said. “GRI and the Reves Center are enormously important to position William & Mary toward its vision of being a much more global institution, and these postdoctoral fellows are going to have a significant impact.”

The postdoctoral fellow will arrive at W&M next fall for the 2023-2024 school year.

“Our postdoctoral fellows are true ambassadors for the university,” GRI Director Mike Tierney said in a statement. “They bring the world to William & Mary and they help spread the word about W&M to the nation and the world. Our postdoctoral program provides opportunities for underrepresented scholars and students, and these fellows in turn make contributions that dramatically increase our ability to produce research that matters in the world.”