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Lives<br />

Aldie<br />

“<br />

Chapin<br />

gave me a<br />

chance when<br />

I needed<br />

it most,”<br />

said Gregg<br />

Smith ’67 to a group of<br />

Chapin’s family and friends<br />

gathered at <strong>SAIS</strong> in October<br />

2010 to honor the alumnus<br />

and beloved member of the<br />

school’s staff.<br />

When Smith arrived at <strong>SAIS</strong> in<br />

1965, having just returned from the<br />

Peace Corps, the financial aid he was<br />

counting on had fallen through. “I did<br />

not have anything to fall back on. I<br />

went to Aldie, and he told me not to<br />

worry, that he would take care of it.<br />

And he did. Today I am a proud member<br />

of the class of 1967.”<br />

Stories about Aldus Chapin ’53<br />

abound. While studying to become one<br />

of <strong>SAIS</strong>’s first graduates, he hid behind<br />

a big football player named Woodie<br />

Vest ’53 in Dean Philip Thayer’s international<br />

law class in the hopes the<br />

dean would not call on him, according<br />

to The Story of <strong>SAIS</strong>. Nevertheless,<br />

Chapin’s <strong>SAIS</strong> education helped him<br />

find a job and success in public service<br />

as a CIA case officer. He later became<br />

assistant dean of <strong>SAIS</strong>, where he oversaw<br />

admissions, development and several<br />

other offices. Drawn by his greatest<br />

passion—art—he eventually left <strong>SAIS</strong><br />

and became executive director the<br />

FinAnCiAL<br />

Aid<br />

Changes<br />

Classmates John Franklin Jr. ’67, Alan Platt B’67, ’67, Bonnie Wilson B’67, ’67, Ph.D. ’71,<br />

Gregg Smith ’67 and John McLaughlin B’66, ’66 at the reception honoring Aldus Chapin ’53<br />

Corcoran Gallery of Art. He spent the<br />

remainder of his celebrated career as<br />

a respected leader in the Washington,<br />

D.C., arts community.<br />

When Chapin died in 2009, a<br />

group of family and friends established<br />

the Aldie Chapin Fellowship to ensure<br />

promising students like Smith were<br />

guaranteed a space at <strong>SAIS</strong>. The effort<br />

raised $237,000. Chapin’s brother<br />

and JHU Trustee Chris Angell made a<br />

lead gift in honor of his older brother.<br />

Smith made the largest contribution,<br />

rededicating a fellowship in his own<br />

name to the Chapin Fellowship.<br />

Smith went on to establish a new<br />

full fellowship with a generous $1<br />

million gift. A cancer survivor who<br />

had been given months to live just a<br />

few years ago, Smith added, “Thanks<br />

to Aldie, I know something of second<br />

chances.”<br />

2011–2012 75

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