GSLIS has received a $2.5 million endowment from the estate of Mr. Adam Conrad, in honor of his late wife Ellen Libretto. Ms Libretto was a former alumna of GSLIS who devoted her ​ long career to enhancing literacy among youth and teens, through her work at NYPL.

Approximately $1 million of this fund will be directed to support student scholarships and the other $1.5 million is to be used to fund an endowed professorship.

Below is the biographical information Emily G. Hirshbein, Director of Planned Giving at QC, has put together for Mr Conrad.

Born in Poland, Adam Halicki Conrad, joined the Queens College library when it was still located in Klapper Hall. As an Assistant Professor at Queens College, Mr. Conrad published various reference works, including “Wilderness preservation, planning, and management: an annotated bibliography” and “Zero-based budgeting: an annotated bibliography.” A life-long learner, Mr. Conrad continued come to campus and audit courses after his retirement in 1990. Mr. Conrad and Ms. LiBretto shared a love of reading, hiking and traveling. Mr. Conrad passed away in 2017, leaving the bulk of his estate to Queens College in honor of his late wife, Ellen LiBretto.