Framingham State receives $2M from former professor for STEM studies

College students walk around an academic building with stairs.

Photo I Courtesy of Framingham State University Framingham State University's Hemenway Laboratories will be renamed to Professor Thomas and Joan Eames Laboratories in honor of the couple's $2-million donation.

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By Mica Kanner-Mascolo

Framingham State University’s STEM, students, faculty, and academic programs just received a major boost in funding as a former university professor and his wife have pledged more than $2 million to the Central Massachusetts school.

FSU Professor Emeritus Thomas Eames and his wife Joan pledged the gift to the school’s Alumni Association and Foundation Board to establish an endowed fund for the university’s College of STEM, according to a Wednesday press release from FSU.

The university will launch the endowment in fiscal 2027, allocating $100,000 per year to the college’s students, faculty, and programs.

In honor of the donation, FSU will rename its Hemenway Laboratories to Professor Thomas and Joan Eames Laboratories. The science facility houses 16 labs available to students in the school’s biology, chemistry and food science programs.

“We are very excited for the impact this level of annual funding will have for our students and faculty in the College of STEM. Renaming the building that houses Professor Eames’ professional home of four decades honors his contributions to the university,” FSU President Nancy Niemi said in the release. “Tom and Joan are very excited and honored to have their names permanently etched onto the campus.”

Eames worked as an FSU professor starting in 1972 before retiring from full-time teaching in 2000. He holds his professor emeritus status within the school’s chemistry and food science department.

FSU’s most recent gift comes after the university received its largest-ever donation in June: a $4.66-million donation to its Danforth Art Museum and School on behalf of the estate of late FSU trustee Susan Litowitz.

The gift also follows a string of university gifts in Central Massachusetts, with Worcester Polytechnic Institute receiving $12 million from the estate of alumnus Carl Karlsson in June and Worcester State University receiving $1.24 million from the assets of the former Becker College in April.

With 2,495 full-time or full-time equivalent students enrolled in fall 2024, FSU is the eighth largest college or university in Central Massachusetts, according to data collected by WBJ’s Research Department.

Established in 1839, Framingham State employs 167 full-time faculty members, 117 part-time members, and 783 total employees.

Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.