A Legacy of Learning

Six decades after graduating from Rollins, Ann Elmore Berlam ’69 fondly recalls the warm welcome of Hugh McKean, Rollins’ 10th president, when she showed up, sight unseen, for her first year on campus.

“He didn’t have children, so he’d always tell the students, ‘You are my family,’” says Berlam, a Charlotte native and the first in her family to attend college. “It was a real family atmosphere at Rollins, and it felt very comfortable even though I went there not knowing anybody. Rollins provided me with an excellent education that resulted in a deeply fulfilling career.”

Berlam, a psychology major and recipient of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, credits Rollins for giving her the confidence to believe in herself, try new things, and succeed. She joined the chapel staff, Panhellenic Association, and Phi Mu sorority. She took sailing lessons, learned to play golf and three-wall handball, spent weekends at the famed Rollins house in New Smyrna Beach, and student-taught at Winter Park High School.

While earning her master’s in educational administration at Duke, Berlam worked for a nonprofit that established North Carolina’s first public kindergarten program. For 26 years, she represented the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, initially with the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C., and then in Raleigh with the General Assembly, pushing for the best legislation and highest appropriations for public schools.

After retiring in 2000, she formed Berlam Associates, an educational consulting firm advocating for North Carolina’s five largest school systems in the state legislature. The North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research named her among the 50 most successful people in her field, and she earned induction into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the state’s highest honor society.

“I had a great career and credit my success with the foundation Rollins gave me,” she says.

Today, Berlam is focused on helping others—her own extended academic family of sorts—access the same learning opportunities that Rollins championed for her all those years ago.

With guidance from Rollins’ Office of Planned Giving, Berlam added a provision to her will establishing an endowed fund to support scholarships, first for students from North Carolina with financial need, followed by education majors and first-generation college students.

“Public education is something to be proud of,” says Berlam, “and I thought if I could establish a scholarship to help people pursue that career, it would be worthwhile. I hope it will give students the same opportunities Rollins gave me to be the best people they can be and pursue their passions.”

Berlam’s commitment to lifelong learning runs deep, rooted in honoring the memory of those closest to her.

Berlam’s mother, Madeline Elmore, was an administrator for an assistant superintendent of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System. In her 50s, Elmore started taking classes toward her associate’s degree, a decision Berlam always admired. When her mother died 10 years ago, Berlam created a scholarship for girls in Naples, Florida, who wanted to teach and were the first in their family to attend college.

More recently, Berlam established an Alzheimer’s support network at her retirement community in Greenville, South Carolina, in honor of her late husband, Bob. “Club Berlam” offers a warm environment for residents struggling with memory issues, providing music, exercise, arts and crafts, games, and shared meals.

“The traditions of service and education I learned at Rollins are what will move this country forward the best we can,” she says, adding that students should consider a career in public service. “You’re not going to make millions of dollars, but you’re going to provide a service to others, and you’ll know you’re making a difference.”