About the Foundation

The first award instituted was a scholarship for an American Fulbrighter working in Sweden; a substantial bequest from Anne O. Thomson—a long-time friend whom Lois considered her Swedish mother—soon helped extend this program, establishing two annual Roth-Thomson Awards each for Fulbrighters in Finland and Sweden. The Foundation’s first translation award—for a translation of American literature into French, the Prix Coindreau—brought to fruition an idea first discussed at a lunch hosted by Lois and Dick Arndt, when they were stationed in Paris in 1980. Two bequests helped further Foundation programs: Mim Johnston Hallock’s living bequest she has made in memory of her husband, Richard; and Faye Cousens Carroll’s bequest in memory of her husband, Martin C. Carroll Jr., which provided funding for an American Fulbrighter in Australia. A major gift from author Elizabeth Kostova strengthened our program for Literature and Translation by establishing the Dyankov Translation Award and Sozopol Fiction Seminar. We are grateful for the able stewardship of our funds by Shawn O’Reilly and Emily Ferry at RBC’s Columbia Group.

For many years, the Foundation relied on the efforts of Dick Arndt, its Founding Chair, and a small Board of Directors made up friends of Lois, including luminaries such as Evelyn Swarthout Hayes and Drs. Steven Muller, Hank Millon and Robin Winks. As projects multiplied and holdings rose, new members were added to the board starting in the mid-1990s. From 2008-14, the Board underwent an increasing number of changes, including the addition of younger members and the able two-year tenure of Jill E. McGovern as Chair in 2011-12. In 2014, Skyler J. Arndt-Briggs—Dick’s daughter and Lois’ stepdaughter—took over as Chair. Since then, the Foundation has moved to a volunteer-board model and both expanded and consolidated operations and programs.