Endowments set for student scholarships,
faculty chairs and academic programs.

Photo: Lanny Nagler

Scholarship support from Campaign UConn provided academic opportunities for hundreds of students, including (from left) Nitya Abraham ’02 (CLAS), Eddy Rodriguez ’02 (BUS), Mydria Clark ’03 (CLAS), Andrew Greenstein ’02 (CLAS), and Kelly Chin ’03 (SFA).

Photo: Lanny Nagler

Raymond and Beverly Sackler have generously supported a variety of arts and science initiatives at UConn, including the Sackler Artists-in-Residence Program to bring renowned artists, playwrights and musicians to the University to create new works while interacting with students.

Robert R. Birge, a chemist listed by Time magazine as one of the Top 50 Cyber Elite, is the Harold S. Schwenk, Sr. Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in UConn’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. New endowed professorships are helping to bring additional outstanding scholars and researchers to UConn.

Photo: Paul Horton

United Technologies’ gift to the School of Engineering is helping to further critical research in areas such as design and manufacturing. UTC employees include UConn alums Lisa P. O’Neill ’86 (ENG) and Marlon Taffe ’97 (ENG), seen with John Cassidy, UTC senior vice president for science and technology.

Campaign UConn exceeded its $300 million goal by a record-shattering $171.1 million. The largest private fund-raising effort ever conducted by a public university in New England ended June 30 with a total of $471.1 million, says John K. Martin, president of the University of Connecticut Foundation, Inc.

The gifts and pledges from the six-year effort will support students, faculty and programs. Of the 115,000 individuals, corporations, charitable foundations and other organizations that made nearly 323,000 gifts and pledges, more than 61,000 were first-time donors. Alumni giving represented 46 percent of individual donors.

This year also was the most successful single year of fund-raising in UConn history. It includes the largest gift ever received, an in-kind gift of engineering software valued at $146.1 million from UGS PLM Solutions, a subsidiary of EDS. The Annual Fund also surpassed its goal of $2.5 million, and investments earned an impressive 16.5 percent return.

Every school, college and campus is benefiting from Campaign UConn. Of the donations received, $37.5 million is designated primarily for scholarships, $45.3 million for faculty support, and $388.3 million for program enhancements and some building projects.

The impact of Campaign UConn can be measured by the 415 new endowments established. Of these, 253 are for student scholarships, fellowships and awards; 37 for faculty, including 17 endowed chairs and 8 professorships; and 125 for program support. The total number of endowments now stands at 1,016: 629 for students, 95 for faculty, and 292 for programs. In addition, the University’s endowment more than doubled, from $123 million in 1998 to $250 million in 2004.

The largest gift by an individual was from Carole and Ray Neag ’56 (CLAS), who pledged a total of $23 million—$21 million in support of the Neag School of Education and $2 million to endow the Ray Neag Distinguished Chair in Vascular Biology at the UConn Health Center.

“The leadership provided at the University and Foundation board level, coupled with the help of a committed corps of volunteers and strong alumni support, was integral to the Campaign’s success. Campaign UConn may have concluded, but it’s really the beginning of a new age for the University,” says Denis M. Nayden ’76 (BUS) ’77 M.B.A., chair of the Campaign UConn steering committee.