Former University Dean Pledges $1M To College

STONY BROOK, N.Y. (AP) — A former dean at a New York state college is donating $1 million to the school for aiding and educating some of its cleaning and housekeeping staff in honor of a custodian who befriended her nearly 50 years ago.

Newsday reports that the first person Frances Brisbane met at Stony Brook University 46 years ago was custodian Elsie Owens, who offered Brisbane advice before an interview for a professor's job.

Brisbane got the job and later became dean of the Long Island college's School of Social Welfare, retiring in 2016. She's currently as the university's vice president for Health Sciences Workforce Diversity.

She had a lifelong friendship with Owens, a Coram resident who died in 2005.

Brisbane's other donations to the university have totaled nearly $500,000.