Buckingham, Lisle M. Resident Fellows
Funded by a gift to The University Honors Program from the GAR Foundation of Akron, The Lisle M. Buckingham Resident Fellows program brings to Akron prominent scholars, artists, scientists, executives, and authorities to enrich the intellectual life of the campus and of greater Akron.
The Buckingham Fellows Endowment was created to memorialize Lisle Buckingham, who died in April 1992, at age 96. He practiced law for 72 years and was the senior partner of the firm of Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs. In addition to his legal career, Lisle Buckingham was a civic leader and champion of higher education. He served as trustee of more than a dozen organizations in the community, including the YMCA, the YWCA, the Akron Art Museum, the Akron Community Foundation, Stan Hywet Foundation, Akron General Medical Center, and the Akron Chamber of Commerce. He received numerous honors and awards, including the Polsky Humanitarian Award and the Sir Thomas More Award for personal integrity, professional excellence and community service; and he was the recipient of honorary doctorates from Wooster College, Baldwin-Wallace College, Cumberland College, and The University of Akron School of Law. The University of Akron was one of Buckingham’s primary interests. For 25 years he was a trustee of The University of Akron Foundation, which he helped found. He was also a member of the College of Fine and Applied Arts Advancement Council. He established three scholarship funds at The University of Akron: The Mildred Heter Buckingham Scholarship for music students, the Ruth Heter Buckingham Scholarship, and the Lisle M. Buckingham Scholarship for undergraduates. In 1966, Buckingham drafted the charter of the GAR Foundation and served as trustee of that philanthropic organization until his death.