Susan ’61 and David ’59 Hirsch are celebrating 30 years of the Hirsch Research Initiation Grants, whose enduring support has fueled generations of faculty research at Pomona College.
At first they only had enough to help one Pomona College professor get a single research project off the ground. But Susan ’61 and David ’59 Hirsch did not let modest beginnings hold them back.
David gives Susan credit for the idea of creating the fund. Susan was working in geriatric medicine at the time, and she knew how challenging it could be to get funding for a pilot project to prove a viable hypothesis, which is required for a larger grant.
“It's really hard to get money to do pilot projects,” says Susan, who studied sociology at Pomona and public health at UCLA. “In science, you have to prove that you have enough good data that you could put in for a larger grant.”
The couple’s ongoing gifts enabled Pomona to establish the David L. Hirsch III and Susan H. Hirsch Research Initiation Grants Fund. For the first 25 years after David and Susan started the program in 1996, it was the sole fund dedicated to supporting faculty research at the College.
“Professors generally come to Pomona because they want to teach,” David says. “But that doesn’t mean that they want to give up on the potential for doing research.”
Susan and David started out funding projects in the sciences, but quickly realized there was a need for research support in the liberal arts as well. “I love the liberal arts, and it’s been very useful to me,” says David, a philosophy major at Pomona who earned a law degree from UC Berkeley and worked as a corporate attorney for many years. He and Susan found creative ways to set aside additional money for their fund, contributing annually as they progressed in their careers. They have since made a bequest to endow the program, ensuring it supports Pomona faculty for generations to come.
As the couple celebrated the 30th anniversary of the grant program and their 65th year of marriage, Susan and David also funded four new projects this year, bringing the total to more than 100 research grants. They delight in meeting the faculty members who receive Hirsch Grants during an annual gathering on campus where they get to hear about the findings and inspiration behind each project, as well as the participants from the previous year who share how things worked out.
On April 24, following the annual lunch to meet the 2026 grant recipients, faculty and staff gathered for a reception to honor Susan and David for their incredible investment and to celebrate 30 years of the Hirsch Research Initiation Grant program. Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College Brent Carbajal led the group in a toast to discovery, imagination and collaboration — and to Susan and David for nurturing a spirit of curiosity for three decades.
“David and Susan’s steadfast support continues to elevate the caliber of research at Pomona and beyond,” Pomona College President G. Gabrielle Starr says. “Their generous gift is a catalyst that empowers faculty to initiate new collaborations, launch new projects and break new ground.”
2026 Hirsch Research Initiation Grant Recipients
Pomona College professor Ami Radunskaya can imagine a future where a person living with Parkinson’s disease could choose a wearable medical device to help them manage their treatment in a comfortable, non-invasive way. With support from a 2026 Hirsch Grant, she is one step closer to making this dream a reality.
Along with neuroscience collaborators in New Zealand, Radunskaya is working on a new way to help doctors deliver drugs inside the brain using focused ultrasound. Radunskaya and her students aim to build a mathematical model that describes how ultrasound moves through the skull and soft tissues of the brain. “Our skulls are unique. Your skull’s different from mine,” says Radunskaya, the Lingurn H. Burkhead Professor of Mathematics. “We need to tailor this for each person.”
Lisa Anne Auerbach, professor of art, another 2026 Hirsch Grant recipient, applied for funding to figure out how to make colorful brick pathways in public spaces. She envisions her future project, titled ‘The Path Forward,’ as a new way to reach audiences after many years of showing her work in galleries and museums. “I have already proposed two pathways for public art projects, but, as far as I can tell, the materials to construct them do not exist,” Auerbach says. “This grant will help me to experiment, consult with material specialists and travel to ceramic and fabrication studios that work with artists.”
Edray Goins, professor of mathematics and statistics, will use his 2026 Hirsch Grant to tell the stories of mathematicians of the African diaspora, building on a trailblazing project initiated by State University of New York mathematician Scott Williams in the 1990s. Goins plans to hire a team of Pomona undergraduates to conduct interviews and write biographies for a website and social media outreach. “Following the success of ‘Hidden Figures,’ there has been great interest in the lives of African American mathematical scientists,” Goins says, noting that with this effort he expects Pomona to become a nationwide leader in uncovering information about Black mathematicians.
Finally, Victoria Sancho Lobis, Sarah Rempel and Herbert S. Rempel ’23 Director of the Benton Museum of Art and associate professor of art history, will use her 2026 Hirsch Grant to conduct research and convene a group of experts to plan for the conservation of the Prometheus mural in Frary Dining Hall, which is envisioned to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the mural’s creation, in 2030. “Prometheus is not only the first mural that José Clemente Orozco completed in the United States,” Lobis says. “It is also widely recognized as a major monument in the history of Mexican art as well as a fundamental touchstone for the origins of American abstract expressionism.”
Reflecting on these 2026 projects and 30 years of giving, David and Susan Hirsch said that they hope their story might inspire others. “A small amount of funding can be so meaningful at the beginning stages of a project,” Susan says. “It has given us great joy to fund these grants.”
To learn how you can contribute to the David L. Hirsch III and Susan H. Hirsch Research Initiation Grants Fund, contact Robin Flynn, director of development.