The Support of Alumni and Friends
his University has been blessed with the ardent and
enthusiastic support
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Campaign leaders John Casteen
and Josh Darden attest that the
momentum and excitement generated
by the campaign show no sign of abating.
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of alumni and friends. Although the number of our alumni is small compared to
most public research universities, their combined philanthropic contributions
totaled $45 million in 1995-96.
This widespread devotion to the University is a major reason why the Campaign
for the University of Virginia, which was formally launched last year, has made
such astonishing progress. The campaign goal was raised from $700 million to
$750 million at last fall's kickoff celebration; on September 30, 1996, the
campaign total stood at $460 million.
The University raised $104 million in 1995-96, an exceptional amount for a
public university and a 33 percent increase over the previous year's total. In
the past five years, the amount of annual private contributions has nearly
doubled, and the momentum and excitement generated by the campaign show no sign
of abating.
The campaign has entered its regional phase, with as many as thirty local
campaigns being staged in cities where the University has significant
concentrations of alumni, friends, and parents. Under the direction of the
National Leadership Gifts Council, campaign committees in New Orleans, Houston,
New York, Tidewater, Richmond, Wilmington, Birmingham, Atlanta, Lynchburg, and
other cities have mobilized to launch local events.
The success of the campaign can be credited to the unstinting efforts of its
executive committee, chaired by Joshua P. Darden, Jr. (Col '58); the National
Leadership Gifts Council, headed by Charles L. Brown (Engr '43); and thousands
of volunteers. During the last three years, President John T. Casteen, III, has
met with alumni groups around the world, soliciting their vision of the
University's future and working with them to create an effective fund-raising
strategy.
REGIONAL CAMPAIGNS |
| New Orleans
Houston
New York
Tidewater
Richmond |
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Wilmington
Birmingham
Atlanta
Lynchburg
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OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL COMMITMENT
A sampling of individual gifts reflects the outstanding generosity and
commitment of those whose lives have been touched by the University:
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An university should not be
a house but a village."
-- Thomas Jefferson
to Littleton Waller Tazewell
January 5, 1805 |
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The widespread devotion of alumni to the University is a major reason why the Campaign for the University of Virginia has made such astonishing progress. The University of Virginia jumped from 46th to 28th in U.S News & World Report's recent poll of "alumni satisfaction," a measure that is based on the percentage of alumni who earned undergraduate degrees here who have made a donation to the University. |
- The School of Law received bequests totaling $6 million from the estates of
George A. Wilson (Law '20) and his wife, Elisabeth Dent Wilson. The bequests,
allocated for unrestricted use, comprise the largest estate gift ever received
by the law school.
- An anonymous donor pledged $4 million to support projects in the Department
of Environmental Sciences. In addition to this gift, the donor gave $1 million
to the Jefferson Scholars Program.
- Victor Elmaleh (Arch '42), chairman of the board of Worldwide Holdings Corp.
of New York, pledged $1.5 million to the School of Architecture to design and
construct an addition to Campbell Hall.
- The estate of Margaret Reaves McGregor Coleman of Rocky Mount, N.C., will
provide $1.2 million to create the Joseph Witt and Ruth Brown Coleman Endowed
Scholarship Fund in Arts & Sciences.
- A $1.2 million bequest from the estate of Virginia Irene Meador of Norton,
Va., was designated to fund scholarships for students from Wise County and
Norton to attend Clinch Valley College. This bequest is the largest gift in the
history of the College.
- A charitable remainder unitrust created by the late Lawrence Lewis, Jr. (Col
'40), a longtime supporter of the University, will provide at least $1 million
for the Darden School.
- A. Thomas Young (Engr '61), retiring president of Lockheed Martin, has named
the School of Engineering and Applied Science the irrevocable beneficiary of $1
million from his corporate insurance policy.
- Lyell Clay (Law '48) of Charleston, W.V., pledged $500,000 to the
University's Counseling Center to fund the creation of a suicide prevention
program. Clay was inspired to make the pledge in memory of his lifelong friend,
Harrison B. "Tersh" Smith (Col '49, Com '54). Clay and his brother Buckner W.
Clay, Jr. (Col '42), previously made a $2 million gift to the law school.
- U. Bertram Ellis (Darden '79), president and CEO of Ellis Communications of
Atlanta, supported the Batten Family Challenge for Entrepreneurial Leadership
with a pledge of $500,000.
MAKING AN INVESTMENT IN EXCELLENCE

 
Amassing the Resources for LeadershipThomas A. Saunders, III, and Jordan Horner Saunders of New York
committed $10 million to endow an academic center for executive education at
the Darden School. They had previously contributed more than $3 million to the
new Darden Grounds project. In gratitude, the central building on the new
Darden Grounds was named in their honor.
This year, the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration also
announced the creation of the Batten Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and
appointed its first executive director, Wendell E. Dunn, III. The center was
made possible through a $13.5 million donation from Frank Batten, Sr., chairman
of Landmark Communications, Inc., of Norfolk and two of his children, Frank
Batten, Jr., and Dorothy Batten Rolph, both Darden graduates. These funds will
be matched by endowment gifts from others in a fund-raising effort that could
reach a total of $27 million. |
A number of foundations, corporations, and other organizations made
substantial commitments this year to the capital campaign.
- The Darden School will receive $2.5 million from MasterCard International,
Inc., to create the MasterCard Distinguished Chair in Entrepreneurial
Leadership and to provide full-tuition scholarships for five MBA degree
candidates each year. H. Eugene Lockhart (Engr '72, Darden '74) is president
and chief executive officer of MasterCard International.
- Siemens Medical Systems, Inc., donated almost $2.5 million in the form of an
MRI scanner and a research grant for the Department of Radiology in the School
of Medicine.
- The Massey Foundation of Richmond has increased its commitment to the
campaign to $2.5 million. This comprises funds for the School of Engineering
and Applied Science (including support for the Edgar Starke Professorship),
funds for the Center for the Study of Mind and Human Interaction in the School
of Medicine, unrestricted support for the McIntire School of Commerce, and
funds for the Darden School.
- A number of law firms with several Virginia graduates have collectively made
leadership pledges to name portions of the Law Grounds project. The partners
and associates of Hunton & Williams have committed $2.2 million, of which
$1 million will fund North Hall and a lecture hall.
- The John W. Kluge Foundation, based in Columbia, Md., made a $1 million
commitment to establish the John W. Kluge Distinguished Professorship in
Urology.
- Internet Multicasting Service has given the University equipment and archival
material valued at more than $1 million.
- The Elis Olsson Memorial Foundation made a $1 million challenge grant to
foster an interdisciplinary approach to applied ethics. The foundation, under
the leadership of Sture G. Olsson (Engr '42) of West Point, Va., has specified
that the pledge be designated for three disciplines: business, medicine, and
engineering.
- Becton Dickinson and Co., a manufacturer of medical supplies, pledged
$750,000 to establish an endowed professorship at the School of Medicine in
international health care worker safety.
- The courtyard and gardens of the law school will be maintained with a gift of
$750,000 from the Class of 1964. Law alumnae have raised $500,000 to fund the
renovated lobby of Withers Hall, the first law school building on North
Grounds.
| Campaign Gifts and Pledges by Source
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Alumni, parents, and friends are the driving force behind the University's campaign, with individual gifts accounting for 66 percent of the campaign's total.
In the past year alone, individual donors gave 63,343 gifts out of a total of 70,000.
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- Price Waterhouse has made a $500,000 commitment to the McIntire School of
Commerce to establish the Price Waterhouse Center for Innovation in Business
Learning.
- The McIntire School has received $500,000 from Crestar Financial Corp. to
fund the development of student and faculty research on small companies and to
enhance the school's programs on small- and medium-sized businesses.
- Gregory Earls (Col '67) of Washington, D.C., and the Earls' Children
Irrevocable Educational Trust have made a campaign pledge of $500,000 to Arts
& Sciences.
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Go on to Outstanding Citizens
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