Why I Give
Anne Towers Kuhns (BMEd ’70, MED ’75)
& Rolf M. Kuhns (BSPT ’72)
This story was featured first in the Spring 2025 edition of the Florida Gator Magazine. Want to grab your copy? Print versions are mailed to all UF Alumni Association members three times a year.
THEN
Gator Marching Band was Rolf and Anne’s social circle. Rolf played the clarinet, and Anne, the trumpet.
On Dec. 9, 1967, Rolf first saw Anne sitting on her trumpet case waiting for the band’s bus to the University of Miami game.
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The two have been married for 52 years. “We still are teammates,” Rolf said. “Throughout our life, all major decisions have been joint decisions.” Through their support, they want the band that introduced them to become the best in the country.
They donate to recognize students who demonstrate leadership skills and commitment. “When you’re in band, you learn a lot of things that have nothing to do with music. You learn teamwork, you learn dependability, you learn how to be on time,” Anne said.
THEN
Rolf went to UF to be a physician but decided the job’s demands didn’t fit his goals, so he switched to physical therapy.
Anne studied music education, but jobs were dry after graduation. After gaining programming skills through part-time gigs and non-credit courses, she returned to UF for her master’s and worked as a graduate research associate, programming on mainframes.
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The couple gives to UF’s College of Public Health and Health Professions because Rolf noticed new UF therapists were well educated but needed clinical skills. He set out to make clinical education the program’s focal point.
“The quality of the clinicians coming out of the school [makes it] one of the leading educational institutions.”
Anne landed at Disney after a recruiter came to campus scouting programmers. “I never looked back. I was with Disney for 37 years.” She worked in the field of information security, which didn’t exist when she graduated. “The takeaway for at least students and young people is, don’t get so hung up on what your career is because the career you end up with may not exist yet.”
THEN
The Kuhns were able to pay tuition through scholarships and working jobs whenever classes were on break. After graduating, their first UF donation was all they could afford: $5.
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Looking back, the Kuhns realized others made it possible for them to get an education. They encourage their scholarship recipients to start the habit of giving back by telling them that if they donate $5, then the Kuhns will multiply it, resulting in a $100 or $500 match.
Anne said, “It’s time to set some other kids up who might not otherwise have an opportunity to go to college and get an education because we’re really, in essence, sponsoring the next generation of leaders.”
