If you stop in the office of the chief executive officer of The Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors, Inc. (GBBR), you might talk about local or statewide real estate concerns. Or, you might talk about Franklin & Marshall College.
“I have an ‘F&M Shelf’ for all my memorabilia in my office,” Al Ingraham ’72, the GBBR CEO, says. “People jokingly ask if I work for GBBR or F&M!”
Ingraham is a tireless supporter of F&M, both as a volunteer and as a donor. He is a member of the Baltimore Regional Alumni Council and was a member of the Shadek Stadium Campaign Committee. He is a member of the Alumni Association Board, serves as a reunion volunteer and a Diplomat Athletic Club (DAC) Key Diplomat, and was instrumental in the early days of DAC (he’s currently the chair, a position he has served in before). In 2016, he was awarded the Alumni Development Volunteer Award; in 2012, he was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame; and, in 2009, he was presented with the Alumni Medal and inducted into the Society of Distinguished Alumni. Ingraham is a member of both the John Marshall Society and the Schnader Society, and he is a frequent attendee at alumni events both on and off campus.
Recently, Ingraham named F&M as the beneficiary of a $200,000 life insurance policy he owns. This type of planned gift is easy to arrange and doesn't take from current assets. “I give generously every year, but I wanted a way to leave a more substantial gift,” he says. “This gives me a chance to leave a legacy and make sure my wife and I have enough to live on, of course.”
Ingraham fell in love with F&M on a college visit when he was in high school. He was a summer camp counselor at Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, and one of his campers was Doug Shand, Jr. Doug and his father convinced Ingraham to visit Lancaster and consider F&M, and the rest is history.
“F&M prepared me for life,” he says today. “It molded my character. The school taught me — and supported — my values. It really was such a personalized education, with the ability for students to develop personal, lifelong relationships with each other and with professors.”
At F&M, Ingraham played basketball and soccer, and was an officer and a member of the Chi Phi fraternity. He met his wife, Diana, through a friend in Chi Phi. They married one week after he graduated from F&M; they've been married 48 years and have two daughters and one granddaughter.
“My favorite memory of my undergraduate years is meeting Diana,” he says. “But I have other wonderful memories. I remember really learning from the professors, and getting to know them personally — professors Glenn Miller, John Moss and Thurman Philoon especially. I give because I want to perpetuate that type of learning experience for today's students.”
To learn how to craft your own legacy at F&M, or for more information about using life insurance to make your bequest, contact Mary Ann M. Cooke, J.D., '90 at 717-358-4821 or mcooke@fandm.edu.