by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
Providing Partnerships Betty Richardson Churchill ’58 and her husband, Dan , have shared an adventurous life—one
distinguished by exciting careers, global living and travel and a shared commitment to service and lifelong learning. Now, they’re helping young people with similar interests to develop the skills, knowledge and mindsets they’ll need to help solve the most pressing global issues of the years and decades ahead. CROSSING PATHS Betty was an English major at Dickinson who wrote for The Dickinsonian, played NCAA softball and spent a few weeks abroad one summer with a Dickinson professor and classmates. “That summer was the first time I’d been to Europe. I loved it, and I stayed in touch with the friends I’ve made through the years,” says Betty, who was determined to keep traveling. She joined the CIA after graduation and soon embarked on a two-year assignment in West Berlin, at the height of the Cold War (the Berlin Wall had just been erected in 1961). Among Betty’s responsibilities was meeting and managing support agents who received encrypted messages from behind the Iron Curtain. Dan was studying engineering physics at the University of Maine when he was recruited by the CIA. After a stint as a junior officer in the U.S. Air Force, he joined the agency as well. Dan and Betty’s paths crossed soon after. Their first date was a Herb Alpert concert—Betty was a big fan. “She joked that she would’ve gone to that concert with just about anyone,” Dan says with a laugh. “Luckily, she went with me.”
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SHARED SENSE OF PURPOSE Dan and Betty married and lived together in Europe for 23 years—15 in London and the rest in Frankfurt and Brussels. They traveled extensively and continued to work in the intelligence community until 1971, when Dan earned an MBA from Boston University and pivoted to international finance. The Churchills relished the chance to learn about global cultures and cuisines, and Betty nurtured a love of art and antiques. They also developed a passion for sustainability, informed by Dan’s background in science and a shared love of the natural world. These interests, and their experiences as public servants living abroad, led them to think deeply about international affairs, the U.S.’s role in the world, and the need to help young people prepare to make a difference as global leaders and public servants. After Dan retired as Avis Europe’s vice president of finance in 1998, the Churchills began to consider ways they could advance that aim. BUILDING ON SUCCESSES Betty had kept in touch with Dickinson friends through the years, and had made a point of seeing fellow alumni during trips home to the U.S. After she and Dan moved back to America, she deepened her involvement with her alma mater. They looked for ways to support Dickinson’s current programs and initiatives that aligned with their interests and values—civic engagement, sustainability, global study and leadership, international studies and the arts.
