Alumnae News & Highlights

"It wasn't a hard decision for me to give something back to Hathaway Brown," says Diane Horsburgh Thompson ’64. "For me and my family, education has always been of the greatest importance."

For Diane, entering HB in 8th grade was a turning point in her life. She was a self-described "geeky" girl who loved to learn, and at HB she found excellent friends that were much like her and an environment that nurtured learning and a belief in oneself.

Diane's love for learning never waned as she graduated from HB and entered Connecticut College for women. Early in her collegiate years she married, had a baby and kept on going to school. As her life unfolded, there would be career changes, dreams redirected, divorce, children and relocations; but one thing that never changed was Diane's determination to continue learning and to never give up!

"Education was my ticket out of every difficulty in my life," says Diane. "When adversity struck, I went back to my roots and went to school so that I could get a job, get a better job, and keep going."

Diane holds a BA and MBA in Marketing from Case Western Reserve University and a Master's in Tax Accounting from the University of North Texas. She is a CPA and lives in Naples, Fla., where she runs her own accounting firm. Her love of education has been passed down to her two daughters who are both doctors—a pediatrician and a neurologist.

"It all goes back to HB and the encouragement they gave me to learn," says Diane, who never misses a reunion and this year will celebrate her 50th reunion at HB. She still keeps in contact with the friends she made in her early days at HB and today marvels at the beauty of the campus, the opportunity that HB provides, and the fresh faces and joyful spirits of the girls she encounters there.

"I have placed HB in my will," says Diane. "I give so that another little girl who is 12-years old can realize her potential—just as I did because of HB."