The President's Report on Philanthropy and Endowments
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The President’s Report on Philanthropy and Endowments 2009–2010 Table of Contents A Message from the President 2 A Message from the Campaign Chair 4 Ensuring Student Opportunity 6 Enhancing Honors Education 8 Enriching the Student Experience 10 Building Faculty Strength and Capacity 12 Fostering Discovery and Creativity 14 Sustaining a Tradition of Quality 16 Concepts in Philanthropy 18 Awards and Honors 22 Endowment Overview 24 Investment Management Update 25 University Budget Summaries 28 Campaign Executive Committee 32 A Message from the President As Penn State’s President, one of my who have been inspired by the campaign’s greatest pleasures is talking with our vision of Penn State as the nation’s most students about what they hope to do student-centered research university. with the degrees they’re working so hard to earn. Whether they aspire to be As of June 30, 2010, gifts and pledges to For physicians or teachers, entrepreneurs or the Future totaled $1.03 billion. These results artists, they have set big goals for them- would be impressive at any time, but we are selves, and thanks to the education that they especially grateful for the loyalty of Penn receive here, they will likely achieve them. State’s supporters during the continuing Inspired by the economic downturn. Ensuring student access ability and am- and opportunity remains the top priority of bition of all our For the Future, and the $203 million received graduates, the Uni- to date in new scholarship support is helping versity has set a big to keep a Penn State education affordable for goal for itself, too: thousands of families hit hard by the finan- raising $2 billion cial crisis. in private support through For the In this report, you’ll find more details about Future: The Cam- our fundraising success in the last year as paign for Penn State well as information about how Penn State has Students. protected and managed the resources that our donors have entrusted to us. Thanks to Thanks to the ex- philanthropy, the University and our students traordinary gener- are thriving even in these difficult times, osity of our alumni and we must work hard to maintain the and friends, we have made vital progress campaign’s momentum as we build financial toward that goal in 2009–2010, breaking old strength for the long term. records and setting new standards for philan- thropy at Penn State. At our official campaign For 155 years, Penn State has been shaped by kick-off in April, we were able to announce the aspirations of students, citizens, and com- that we were more than halfway toward our munities—and by the generosity of alumni $2 billion goal, and photos from that land- and friends who have chosen to support our mark event are featured throughout this pub- institution. Thank you for helping us to aim lication. We have passed other milestones, higher, for the University and For the Future. too. For the first time, the University received more than $200 million in cash gifts from Sincerely, alumni and friends in a single fiscal year. We also had strong results in commitments, rais- ing more than $274 million, the third highest total in our history. These gifts came from a Graham B. Spanier, President record 185,183 donors—alumni and friends The Pennsylvania State University 2 The President’s Report on Philanthropy and Endowments | 2009–10 “For 155 years, Penn State has been shaped by the aspirations of students, citizens, and communities—and by the generosity of alumni and friends who have chosen to support our institution.” A Message from the Campaign Chair The big picture, the long view, the trees results detailed in this report. All of us know, and the forest: Alumni and friends who though, that the hardest work is still ahead. support the University share a vision that encompasses not only what our institution We must communicate the importance of is today, but what our students—and Penn philanthropy to an even broader audience State—can be in the future. On the cover of if we are to reach the goals of For the Fu- this edition of the President’s Report on Phi- ture, and I hope that you will join us in that lanthropy and Endowments, we’ve featured effort. Just as the donors highlighted here a recent aerial photograph that may give have told their stories of giving, I hope that you a fresh perspective on Old Main, and in you’ll reach out to other Penn Staters and the following pages, we’ve featured stories friends and share your perspective on what of donors whose unique it means to support the University. viewpoints have led them to make extraordinary gifts Philanthropy has changed the way that Penn to Penn State. State looks at itself, as well as how the world looks at us, and it’s changed the way that our Whether they’re look- students look at their own potential to suc- ing through the lens of a ceed. Giving to the University has changed family member’s college the way that I look at myself, too, as part of a experience or a depart- Penn State community that stretches across ment’s illustrious past, the generations and around the world. Thank whether they perceive the you for your own support of Penn State and potential in an innovative your own vision for our future. educational program or a bold new outreach effort, Sincerely, our supporters are seeing the future of the University, and they’re seeing how they can make that future happen. Endowed gifts like those described in these stories embody a special kind of vision, one with no horizon, Peter G. Tombros, Chair no limit to Penn State’s role as a leader, now For the Future: The Campaign for and in perpetuity. Penn State Students As we work toward achieving the official $2 billion goal of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students, we are asking all of The articles in this report not only tell the sto- the University’s alumni and friends to see a ries behind important gifts to the University— role for themselves in shaping our institu- they also highlight ideas and approaches that tion through philanthropy. 2009–2010 was have enabled many donors to fulfill their philan- one of the most exciting and successful years thropic goals. To learn more about the concepts in the history of Penn State fundraising, and appearing in bold throughout the text, please I am honored to have led the team of dedi- see the Concepts in Philanthropy section, which cated volunteers who achieved the incredible begins on page 18. 4 The President’s Report on Philanthropy and Endowments 2009–10 “Philanthropy has changed the way that Penn State looks at itself, as well as how the world looks at us...” Ensuring Student Opportunity Support from a State Gratitude is a great muse, says Hannah Morris. Every year, the Public Relations major from Punx- College couple turns the sutawney writes a thank-you letter to express her financial situation of appreciation for the John E. and Judith F. Baillis students from bad to verse. Scholarship, but last fall, she was inspired to pen a two-page poem: … To receive your scholarship is quite an honor Without your support through college, I’d be a goner… …We all appreciate the financial assist Your kindness has enabled me to stay on the dean’s list… …Finding money for college is normally stressing That’s why your scholarship is such a blessing… “Reading Hannah’s poem was a terrific reminder of why we created the scholarship,” says John Baillis ’58, a retired vice president of software firm Malvern Systems now living in State College. “When I hear that our gift has made it possible for students to enjoy Penn State and develop their potential, it’s very rewarding.” John and Judith (who passed away in 2005) established the fund to help three different groups of undergraduates. Every year, one Baillis Scholarship goes to a student like Hannah Morris who is a top academic achiever at any Penn State campus, but the couple also wanted to assist students who were facing special challenges to earning a degree. “Our own daughter didn’t take a direct path through her educa- tion,” says John. “She didn’t decide to go to college until her senior year of high school, so she enrolled in a special program at Penn State Brandywine, the campus closest to our home at the time, to catch up on the courses she needed. After two years, she left school to start a family, but she came back to Penn State when she was 25 years old and finished her degree at University Park. We saw what she went through, and we wanted to help others in her position.” A second Baillis Scholarship is awarded each year to a student at Penn State Brandywine who has the potential to succeed, but whose academic record doesn’t yet qualify him or her for acceptance in a degree program. The third Baillis Scholarship supports a Brandywine student who is 25 years of age or older or who has been out of high school for four years or more. “I wanted to set an example for my children—how could I honestly tell them to complete college if I didn’t?” says Taunja Belgrave, a mother of three and a recipient of the Bail- lis Scholarship. She began a degree twenty years ago, but she had to leave school to help support her family when her father died.