Robert Roberts, EDU '54

If you ask him about including Temple in your estate plans, Robert M. Roberts '54 will answer with enthusiasm. "Go ahead and do it," he says. "It's really important!"

For Roberts, a graduate of the College of Education who lives in Pasadena, Calif., a bequest is a way to give back to the university that treated him so well as a student.

"I was well looked after by the staff and faculty," he says. "I had trouble adjusting to college initially, and they offered good guidance and especially career counseling to help me determine my strengths."

That good guidance led to a major in secondary math education and a bachelor of science degree in education. After graduation and a stint as a substitute chemistry teacher at Philadelphia's Central High School, Roberts was drafted into the U.S. Army. After that, he moved to Pasadena, where he taught for several years more before traveling to Morocco on a Fulbright Scholarship to teach math and science. He has since remained active in the Fulbright Program at home, helping young scholars become acclimated to life in Los Angeles.

Roberts returned to Pasadena and earned master degrees in educational administration and in counseling and guidance from the University of Southern California. For nearly 24 years, until his retirement from the Pasadena Unified School District, he offered guidance to students of his own.

Roberts remains proud of his undergraduate education at Temple. "It left me well prepared to be in the classroom," he says. His wide-ranging experiences while at Temple took him from a trip to a one-room schoolhouse to making the arts part of the program in a South Philadelphia classroom to leading tour groups at the Franklin Institute.

With his bequest, Roberts has come full circle. While he may choose to designate a portion to meet Temple's top priorities, Roberts hopes that his legacy will reflect his own undergraduate experience, one that led to a deeply satisfying career. He will establish an endowed scholarship for the College of Education to benefit students who plan to teach math and science.

Make a Big Impact

You can include a gift to Temple in your estate plan to support future students. Contact Tom Yates at (215) 926-2545 or tyates@temple.edu to learn more.