Lillian Pierson Lovelace’s involvement in Antioch University stretched from 1946, when she started her freshman year at Antioch College, to 1986, when she graduated with her BA from the Santa Barbara campus, through the next sixteen years, when she served on Antioch’s Board of Governors, and on to her last gift to Antioch in 2021. Lovelace passed away on January 16, 2024, leaving an indelible mark on Antioch and many other organizations and people. She was 96 years old.
Over her years as an Antiochian, Lovelace supported the University in many ways, contributing generously in both time and resources. To name just a few of her actions: she gave the initial funding for the MFA in Creative Writing, enabling its launch in 1997. She supported the creation of a think tank on the future of higher education. She gave the founding gift to establish the PhD in Leadership and Change. She invested significantly in developing the first university-wide development leadership and staff. She gave a large gift to The Fund for the Future in 2017, enabling a university-wide generative process for thinking through Antioch’s next big ideas. Her final gift in 2021 formed the seed money to establish the Guskin Center for Democracy and the Common Good.
But if anything, this partial list undersells Lovelace’s influence on Antioch. “Lillian wasn’t a philanthropist who simply signed checks. She was actively engaged,” says Al Guskin, the President and then Chancellor of Antioch from 1985-1997. As current Chancellor Bill Groves puts it, “Antioch could not have been blessed with a better champion for its mission than Lillian Lovelace. She was a stalwart supporter of the University for over fifty years.”
Lovelace came from a modest background. Her mother, an elementary school principal, instilled in her a deep commitment to education. Her financial circumstances changed when she married Jon Lovelace, the son of the founder of Capital Group, the giant investment management company. Jon went on to serve as the company’s chairman, while Lillian led the Pearson Lovelace Foundation. The foundation operated under a model that invited leaders from recipient organizations to participate in decision-making, reflecting her belief in collaboration and trust.
For Lovelace, this often resulted in not just financial support but also friendship. Art Zucker, Chair of the Board of Governors from 2005 to 2011, says, “Lillian was of immense value to Antioch in so many ways. During my term she was a great support, advisor, and friend. For me, it was an honor, privilege, and joy to be engaged with her.” Guskin, who dedicated his memoir to Lovelace, remembers the same quality. As he says, “She valued personal connections and close relationships with the people she supported.”
Even after stepping down from her active role on the Board in 2002, Lillian was elected Governor Emerita and attended board meetings when possible. Her contributions continue to echo throughout the institution. The current Chair of the MFA in Creative Writing, Lisa Locascio Nighthawk, says that she continues to be grateful for the way Lillian Lovelace’s founding gift made it possible for the MFA program to become a distinctively community-focused, social justice-forward creative writing program. She says, “We are very proud to carry on her legacy almost thirty years later.”
Chancellor Groves says, “As a University, we all extend our deepest sympathy to her family, friends, and those who loved her as we did. She will be greatly missed.” Lovelace is survived by her four children, Carey, Jim, Jeff, and Rob; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
