Laurie McGregor Connor is an Ohio Wesleyan University graduate (Class of 1977) who built a career in planned giving and then spent decades as a volunteer leader for Kappa Alpha Theta. Ohio Wesleyan gave her its Alumni Award in 1999, and the Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation now offers a scholarship in her name.
She is not a celebrity in the usual sense. Her public record consists of university documents, sorority publications, memorial pages and scholarship listings. This profile sticks to what those sources confirm, and it says plainly where a claim rests on a single secondary source
Ohio Wesleyan Roots
Connor graduated from Ohio Wesleyan in 1977, according to the university’s 1999 Alumni Award citation. A ZoomInfo professional profile also lists a Bachelor of Arts from the school.
At Ohio Wesleyan she joined Kappa Alpha Theta, and the sorority shows up again and again in her public record. Her condolence messages on Legacy.com are signed from Gamma deuteron, Theta’s Ohio Wesleyan chapter. The same chapter is the first group named in the eligibility rules of the scholarship that carries her name.
Nine Years Leading Planned Giving
In 1988 Laurie McGregor Connor joined the University Relations staff as Director of Planned Giving. The citation says the job meant working with alumni, their financial advisors and others on long-term gifts to the university. She stayed on staff for nine years.
Why Planned Giving Takes Patience
Planned giving covers gifts that are arranged now but often paid later, such as bequests in a will or other deferred and estate commitments. A donor may take years to decide, and the gift may not arrive for decades. The work depends on trust, and it usually involves the donor’s attorney or financial advisor as well as the university.
That is why the citation’s wording matters. It describes her as working “with alumni, their financial advisors and others,” which fits a job built on long conversations and slow decisions, not quick appeals.
The Tower Society
The citation says she became a charter member of the Tower Society, the group Ohio Wesleyan founded to recognize alumni and friends who commit to an estate or deferred gift. In other words, she made a commitment of the kind she asked others to consider.
ZoomInfo says she revived the school’s planned giving program. That wording comes from a data aggregator, not from Ohio Wesleyan, so treat it as a secondary report.
The 1999 Alumni Award
Ohio Wesleyan presented her with the 1999 Alumni Award for sustained contributions to the university. The citation also covers her volunteer work, including reunion work in 1987, service as a Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation trustee, and work as financial advisor for Ohio State University’s collegiate chapter. She also advised the Theta chapter at Ohio Wesleyan.
The citation mentions a camp at Ohio Wesleyan for gifted middle school students, co-sponsored by the Junior League of Columbus, among her volunteer activity. Its final line says her work reached alumni across the country.
The award came about two years after she left her staff job, and the citation credits her as both an employee and a volunteer. That mix is unusual. Many people give to a school either through a job or through service, and the citation treats her record as both.
Service to Kappa Alpha Theta
From Trustee to Government Relations
After serving as a Foundation trustee, she became Theta’s Director of Government Relations. In July 2019 she was named as the author of a post on the Theta website about the Collegiate Freedom of Association Act (H.R. 3128).
The post describes the bill as bipartisan, with 23 cosponsors at the time. It says the bill was meant to address sanctions, such as those imposed by Harvard, on members of single-sex organizations. Members who wanted talking points were told to contact her.
ZoomInfo also lists her as Chairman of the Government Relations Committee and, earlier, as PAC representative. Those titles come from that listing alone.
Pins and Personal Notes
Theta’s “Diamond Thetas” page shows a quieter side of the work. Connor presented a 75-year membership pin to an Ohio Wesleyan member from the class of 1948. She noted the day fell on the 46th anniversary of her own initiation.
The same page says Helen Jo Lerch Rouhier also received a 75-year pin from her. After Grace Carrington Goodall died, Connor met with Goodall’s family in Indianapolis, according to the page.
Her role as Alumnae Contact Officer appears in memorial guest books on Legacy.com. On December 31, 2023, she wrote to the family of Carol Stager on behalf of Gamma deuteron, noting Stager’s 73 years of membership. She also signed memorials for Sandra Champion and Patricia Kelly in 2022.
Her Public Record at a Glance
| Year / Period | Event / Career Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1977 | Graduates from Ohio Wesleyan, according to the 1999 Alumni Award citation |
| 1987 | Participates in volunteer reunion work, mentioned in the citation |
| 1988 | Joins University Relations as Director of Planned Giving |
| About 1997 | Ends a nine-year staff tenure, calculated from the citation’s reference to “nine years” |
| 1999 | Receives the Alumni Award |
| 2019 | Appears as the author of Theta’s post on H.R. 3128 |
| 2022–2023 | Signs Legacy.com memorials for Theta sisters |
The timeline has gaps. Her years between the late 1990s and 2019 are only partly documented, and the sources do not give dates for her Foundation trustee term or her government relations appointment.
What Sets Her Record Apart
Most alumni profiles center on one achievement. Hers runs through a single thread: she helped people plan for the long term, then stayed close to the same community for decades. Her work moved from fundraising, to advising a chapter, to advocacy, to writing notes to families after a member’s death.
This reading is an interpretation, not a claim from any source. The facts behind it are in the citation, Theta’s pages and the memorial entries. They show someone who kept showing up at the moments that mattered to members, from reunions to anniversaries to funerals.
The Laurie McGregor Connor Scholarship
The Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation offers the scholarship, and it is aimed at members of the Gamma deuteron chapter at Ohio Wesleyan. The College Board’s BigFuture lists it for female undergraduates seeking a bachelor’s degree.
Who Can Apply
| Priority | Eligibility Requirements |
|---|---|
| 1 | A freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior member of Gamma Deuteron pursuing an undergraduate degree |
| 2 | If no one qualifies under the first category, a senior or alumna of the chapter pursuing a graduate degree |
| 3 | If no one qualifies under the first two categories, any fraternity member with a permanent address in Ohio who is pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree |
Amount and Deadline
Peterson’s lists the award amount as varying and shows a deadline of March 4, 2027. It also marks the award as not renewable. Deadlines and amounts change from year to year, so confirm both with the Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation before applying.
Before You Apply
The scholarship pages describe the rules, but they point applicants to the Foundation for the application itself. Start there, since third-party listings can lag behind the official terms. Check that your chapter membership and enrollment match the first tier, because lower tiers open only when no one in the tier above applies.
What Is Not Publicly Confirmed
Her age, family and home details are not publicly documented, so this profile leaves them out. ZoomInfo lists her as a professional volunteer with Experience Columbus, but I found no primary source for that role. Her current titles may have changed since the sources above were published, and the scholarship deadline will need a fresh check each year.
Image note: if you publish this page, use real photos supplied by Ohio Wesleyan or Kappa Alpha Theta, with her permission. AI-generated images of a real private person can mislead readers.
