Betsy K. Powers, 80, of Lewisburg, Pa., died Jan. 12 at RiverWoods, Lewisburg.

Born in New Britain, Conn., on July 16, 1927, she was a daughter of the late Drs. Michael and Gertrude Johnson Kinsella.

A graduate of the Mary Burnham School in Northampton, Mass., she earned her bachelor of science degree in biology from Tufts University in Medford, where she met her husband of 45 years, Harvey M. Powers Jr.

In 1949, they moved to Lewisburg to work at Bucknell University, where Betsy served as the laboratory director for the biology department from 1960 to 1994.

Beyond her family, Betsy loved Lewisburg, Bucknell and new adventures. Betsy enjoyed travel, be it for beachcombing on the Vineyard, theatre in London, traipsing the ruins in Greece, safari in Kenya or snorkeling in the Cayman Islands. She had been looking forward to a Nile River trip in Egypt later this spring.

In recent years, Mrs. Powers served on many volunteer boards. She was one of the original board members for the Donald Heiter Community Center in Lewisburg. She also served on the RiverWoods Advisory Committee. She was an active member of the American Association of University Women Susquehanna Valley University Women’s Investors Club.

At Bucknell, she was a founding member and former president of the Association for the Arts and was a member of the Green Room Board for the Weis Center for the Performing Arts. She also belonged to numerous social organizations.

With open-door hospitality, Betsy and her husband Harvey welcomed generations of students, faculty, staff and friends. Hundreds of students across the decades regularly shared ideas, received mentoring, dreamed of the future, and interacted with renowned artists who were guests of the university.

In 1990, Mrs. Powers received the Harriman Award in recognition of her contributions to the cultural and intellectual life of Bucknell. The Aprahamian Volunteer Achievement Award in 1994 recognized her outstanding service to Bucknell. At the first annual Bucknell Awards Gala in October 2007, Betsy received the Association of the Arts Academy of Artistic Achievement Award in honor of her several decades of support for the arts at Bucknell. In 1978, she earned a patent for a portable beach gazebo for babies.

Survivors include two daughters, Christina P. VanBuskirk of Millerstown, Pa., and Dianne E. Powers of West Tisbury; a son and daughter-in-law, Marc and Audrey Powers of Tampa, Fla.; grandchildren Betsy VanBuskirk and her husband Gary Leighton, Katherine Oliver and her husband Christopher, Judson Powers and his wife Megan, and Austin Powers; and great-grandchildren Aaron Swinderman, Gwen Oliver and Tegan Oliver.

She was preceded in death by her husband, who died Feb. 20, 1993 and a son in law, Clayton VanBuskirk, who died in 2006.

Interment was in the Lewisburg Cemetery.

The family requests that her friends continue her efforts to raise funds for the arts and the community. Memorial contributions to support the design and construction of new facilities for the visual arts at Bucknell University should be sent to the Betsy Powers Memorial Fund, in care of the Office of Development and Alumni Relations, Bucknell University, Lewisburg PA 17837. The family would also welcome contributions in her memory to the Donald Heiter Community Center, 100 North Fifth St., Lewisburg PA 17837.