2018 CAMWS Special Award
Ferdinand LaBrunerie
CITATION
Mr. Ferdinand LaBrunerie began his Latin and Greek studies at Thomas Jefferson High School in St. Louis, graduated from Harvard University with a Classics degree in 1958, and has since worked in banking, insurance, and investments. Even as he founded and grew his own company in Columbia, Missouri, LaBrunerie Financial, Mr. Labrunerie actively and generously supported the humanities, and in particular the study of Latin and Greek. He has been a member of the statewide Missouri Arts Council, provided a translation of Medea for a Stephens College theater production, and served on the Harvard Arts and Science Development Committee in the 1990s, working with faculty and other alumni on updating degree requirements in Classics.
Mr. LaBrunerie is an influential advocate for Classics in Missouri, his advice and insights valued by administrators and community members. For 30 years, he has sponsored the LaBrunerie Greek Prize, given to the most accomplished student of ancient Greek at the University of Missouri. Most recently, as faculty in the Missouri Department of Classical Studies merged with Classical archaeologists to become the Department of Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Mr. LaBrunerie gave a major gift to fund the LaBrunerie Classics Library, a comfortable and welcoming space for the display and study of our research collection. In a more personal sort of commitment to the classics, Mr. LaBrunerie begins every morning by reading from his favorite Greek authors. Driving this generous and long term support of the Classics is Mr. LaBrunerie’s abiding love for the Classics and his conviction that studying the ancients is the best preparation for today’s citizens and leaders.
Listen to this citiation being read at the 2018 banquet in Albuquerque, New Mexico: Special Service Award: Ferdnand Labrunerie (David Schenker, University Of Missouri At Columbia)