October 01, 2018
Michael S. Gilmor ’17; Fulbright teaching scholar
Michael S. Gilmor ’17 died Aug. 25, 2018, at his home in Huntington, N.Y., after being stricken ill. He had just completed a year teaching English in Poland through a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship awarded during his senior year at Providence College.
A biochemistry major and member of the Liberal Arts Honors Program, Mr. Gilmor was the first PC science major to receive a Fulbright award. He was one of only 15 students in the United States to be selected by the Fulbright U.S. Student Program to teach in Poland.
He chose the country because it welcomes teaching assistants with science backgrounds and because his great-grandparents were born there. Fulbright is the flagship international exchange program of the U.S. government.
Mr. Gilmor entered PC as a chemistry major, but a biochemistry class in the chemistry of living organisms convinced him to change his major in his junior year, even though it meant additional course requirements. He was a teaching assistant in the laboratory of Dr. Kenneth R. Overly, associate professor of chemistry.
“‘Give me more of this’ was his approach,” said Overly later. “‘Tell me more.’ He has that attitude, day in and day out. He is really special: remarkably mature and engaged, and on top of that, he has really strong academic credentials.”
During the summer of 2016, Mr. Gilmor commuted from campus to an internship in the regulatory department of Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company, in Groton, Conn.
Beyond his academic interests, Mr. Gilmor was extremely active with the Board of Programmers, the student planning organization. He served as executive treasurer and as a member of its weekend programming and social committees, helping to plan such events as a volleyball-a-thon and the first Halloween Spooktacular.
Habitat for Humanity was another special cause to him. He joined a Campus Ministry trip to Harrisburg, Pa., and worked on builds in New Orleans, in Alabama, and in coastal New York with his father, an adviser to the Habitat chapter at Huntington High School on Long Island.
In an interview about his Fulbright teaching award, Mr. Gilmor reflected on his undergraduate experience, which included living all four years on campus — some with roommates he met his first year as a resident in Aquinas Hall.
“The absolute best part of PC is the people I’ve been able to meet,” he said. “It’s really a cliché, but it’s true … this has been a home to me. During my first semester, coming from a very small high school, I had a difficult time adjusting. Now, having roommates, belonging to BOP, having people I can turn to … it’s the best part. The academics have been amazing. But to have these relationships — it’s true what they say on the tours. It’s a community feel on campus.”
Mr. Gilmor is survived by his parents, Robert and Janet; his brothers, Robert and Alan; his grandparents, Michael, LaWayne, Janet, and Fred; and his girlfriend, Briana.
A memorial service for Mr. Gilmor was held on Aug. 31, in St. John’s Episcopal Church, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. A memorial Mass was celebrated on Sept. 5 in St. Dominic Chapel on campus. The Fulbright program honored him by planting a tree in his name in Poland.
