Amherst alumnus Eric Swanson bolsters high school’s creative, technical programs with $30K donation

AMHERST — Studio arts, performing arts and engineering programs at Amherst Regional High School are being supported with a $30,000 gift from an alumnus.

The school district recently announced that Eric Swanson, who graduated from the high school in 1978, made the contribution in response to ongoing budget challenges.

Swanson has served in academic, entrepreneurial, industrial, government and nonprofit organizations, working on advanced technologies, including inter-satellite laser communication, high-speed fiber optic networks and biomedical imaging.

He collaborated in the discovery of optical coherence tomography, an imaging technology that has transformed diagnostics in ophthalmology, cardiology and other medical fields.

On a recent visit to the high school, Swanson went to some classrooms and told school leaders he was inspired by what he heard from some of the teachers and students, while also seeing how budget challenges are affecting them.

“I am grateful for the education I received in Amherst and wanted to ‘pay it forward’ in a small way to say thank you to all the great teachers and administrators I met along the way,” Swanson said.

In 2023, Swanson made a $25,000 gift to the school’s engineering department.

Swanson is a co-founder of five start-up companies and has received numerous awards for his contributions, including the presidential National Medal of Technology and Innovation, bestowed by then-President Joe Biden. He has also earned the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award.

The only stipulation on Swanson’s donation was that each department head meet with their team to collaboratively determine how these funds can best support the needs of their students.

Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman thanked Swanson for his support of the schools where students from Amherst, Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury are educated.

“Eric’s generosity is a powerful example of alumni impact,” Herman said. “His gift ensures that our students continue to thrive in both technical and creative fields.”

Swanson is also a 1982 alumnus of the University of Massachusetts Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and a research affiliate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was one of 17 innovation pioneers honored in the 2025 class of National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees.

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