A. Watson “Butch” Armour III ’33 created a charitable lead trust through his will, which provided gifts to Princeton (as well as other nonprofit institutions) that amounted to almost $6 million over 15 years. The trust terminated with its final gift payment in January 2007, but Armour’s generosity lives on through the deep support he provided for Princeton’s academic and cultural life.

Professor Caryl Emerson has been the A.Watson Armour III '33 University Professor of Slavic Languages and Literature since 1995. Emerson worked with Associate Professor of Music Simon Morrison, to produce a world premiere of Pushkin’s 1825 historical drama Boris Godunov in Meyerhold’s 1936 directorial concept with music composed by Sergei Prokofiev.

The 2007 production, an international collaboration between Princeton University and the Glinka Museum of Musical Culture in Moscow, involved students in the Program in Theater and Dance, the Princeton University Orchestra, the Princeton University Chamber Chorus, and the School of Architecture, which designed the set. Performances were held at the Berlind Theatre in April 2007.

Armour’s gift has funded the Armour Centennial Fellowship. Scott M. Francis, a graduate student in French and Italian, was the 2006-07 Armour Centennial Fellow.

The Armour Faculty Support Fund has provided support for the jazz conductorship at Princeton. Anthony D. J. Branker ’80, the part-time director and conductor of the Concert Jazz Ensemble has “essentially...built from scratch a program that is the envy of all but the top professional music schools,” according to a feature article on Branker in the Princeton Alumni Weekly.

The A. Watson Armour III and Sarah Wood Armour Fund for Music provides support to the Composers’ Ensemble at Princeton. Through the ensemble, student and faculty composers identify professional groups that they would like to work with, compose new works specifically for them, and then bring them to campus for several days of rehearsal leading to a performance of the new works. The Composers’ Ensemble has instituted an artist-in-residence program, which brings an outstanding solo performer to campus to work with Princeton composers.  Professor Steven Mackey co-directs the Ensemble with Assistant Professor Barbara White and Princeton University Orchestra Conductor Michael Pratt.