Leadership expert and author John C. Maxwell wrote, “Small disciplines repeated with consistency lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.” Bethany Weise ’05 exemplifies that idea with 21 consecutive years of gifts to the Franklin & Marshall Fund.

Weise has spent more than a decade as a leader in the biotechnology industry, including nearly four years at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., a global company that develops genetically targeted therapies to treat rare inherited diseases and other genetic conditions. She is currently a director of clinical program management after previously serving as a director of external validation and strategic risk management.
 

"I’ve kept giving because I understood that there were gifts of time, money and expertise given by those who came before me that made my experience at F&M richer. I found joy in helping to perpetuate that for current and future F&M students.”

Bethany Weise ’05

A business administration major and international public policy minor at Franklin & Marshall, Weise lives in Philadelphia. She was very involved as a student, serving as a member of the Student Senate and the Student Space Committee. She also was a Buchanan Scholar and Career Services employee who participated in America Counts, Habitat for Humanity, Putting it Together in the Community, America Reads, and F&M C.A.R.E.S.

Weise recalls how her giving history began. “I was a member of the Senior Gift committee, and that’s when I gave my first gift to the F&M Fund,” she said. “It turns out that articulating to my peers the value of giving — and what our collective impact could do — stuck with me along the way. I’ve kept giving because I understood that there were gifts of time, money and expertise given by those who came before me that made my experience at F&M richer. I found joy in helping to perpetuate that for current and future F&M students.”

Weise believes her F&M experiences, which focused on service to others and student government, continue to shape who she is today. “In college, I learned the value of building and strengthening all types of community,” she said. “My involvement in student government gave me the opportunity to contribute a student voice to a community with a strong and rich tradition, but one that was open to new ideas. I learned how to find different ways both to listen and to be heard, and I recognized there was always a ripe opportunity to be involved and do more.”  

She said that process began even before she enrolled at F&M. “Every experience I had when visiting campus, applying to F&M and interviewing there made it clear that I wasn’t just a collection of words and experiences on an application,” Weise remembered. “The people at F&M made me feel like I was being seen as someone who could and should contribute to that community. And they made it easy for me to understand that community and want to be a part of it.”

Weise had words of advice for today’s F&M students. “Embrace the ampersand mentality; look to connect with others and add where you can, especially if it makes you push the boundaries of your experience and try new things,” she said. “F&M taught me to find my place in a community and figure out how I can add to it, have an experience and improve upon it, learn something new and expand on it, and find a personal connection and grow in it. I continue to make the most of the communities and spaces I’m in because of what I learned at F&M.”