University of Pittsburgh Discover a World of Possibilities Fundraising Campaign Reaches $550 Million

January 21, 2003

PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh's Discover a World of Possibilities fundraising campaign has reached $550 million, Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg announced today.

"This most recent milestone is a reflection of our campaign's ongoing momentum, which we have been able to sustain even in very challenging economic times," Chancellor Nordenberg said. "As we work to further enhance our educational mission—for the benefit of our students, faculty, and staff, for the community, and for the region—our supporters are recognizing not only our present accomplishments but also our focus on future achievements. With each step toward the realization of our $1 billion goal, we are even more strongly positioned to deliver on our heartfelt and well-founded belief that Pitt's very best days are yet to come."

The announcement coincides with a commitment to the University from the Giant Eagle Foundation for a donation of $1.4 million—the 100th gift of $1 million or more during the current fundraising campaign. The Giant Eagle gift will support educational and community outreach initiatives in the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, the School of Pharmacy, and the School of Social Work.

After the fundraising campaign exceeded its $500-million goal last spring, more than a year before its scheduled conclusion, Pitt's Board of Trustees passed a resolution in June authorizing the University to extend the campaign and increase its goal to $1 billion.

As the fundraising campaign continues, the University seeks to exemplify the vision, ambition, and direction included in the following trustees' resolution statements:

• The University "is committed to strengthening its already enviable position as one of America's most respected providers of high-quality undergraduate education, to enhancing existing strengths in graduate and professional education, and to increasing the scope, quality, and visibility of its exceptional research program";

• The achievement of these goals "will extend and enhance the benefits that the University already provides to its students and to the broader communities it serves and will do so at a pivotal time for the home region and for the Commonwealth";

• "Providing Pitt students with the best possible learning opportunities and supporting Pitt faculty and staff members in their important work and expanding Pitt's positive impact within the community will require a significant capital investment"; and

• The funds raised will "be invested in support of the people and the programs of the University" and will enable the University "to seize emerging opportunities and meet future challenges in ways that increase its impact and add to its already proud legacy."

"All those who have contributed to the campaign know without doubt that they are indeed supporting discovery and limitless possibility," Chancellor Nordenberg said. "Our new campaign goal of increasing endowed funds to underwrite scholarships, fellowships, professorships, and chairs clearly demonstrates the University's commitment to academic excellence."

Pitt is among 21 American universities pursuing campaigns of $1 billion or more, including the California Institute of Technology, Duke University, Georgetown University, the Johns Hopkins University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michigan State University, Northwestern University, Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, Stanford University, the University of Arizona, the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of California at San Francisco, the University of Chicago, the University of Colorado, the University of Minnesota, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, and Washington University in St. Louis.

Like Pitt, most of these institutions are members of the prestigious Association of American Universities.

The campaign has compiled a number of noteworthy statistics:

• 185 new named endowed scholarship funds ranging on average from $50,000 to $150,000, an increase of 43 percent in the number of such funds since the beginning of the campaign in 1997;

• 29 new named endowed chairs of $1.5 million to $2.5 million each, an increase of 28 percent in chairs since the beginning of the campaign;

• 10 new named endowed professorships of $750,000 to $1 million each, an increase of 28 percent in named professorships; and

• 204 new named miscellaneous faculty and student resource endowments of $10,000 to $500,000 each to support such activities and programs as research projects, research travel, book purchases, and student academic projects, representing an increase of 59 percent in the number of such funds.

The campaign has enjoyed broad support from the University's alumni and friends, attracting a total of 72,918 donors to account for $181 million of the total raised.

Viewing the campaign's total gift commitments in another way, one-third of all campaign funds raised have come from individuals. Campaign gifts from alumni and friends include $135 million to the University endowment, with $87 million benefiting academic endowments and $45 million contributing to facilities improvements.

"Fundraising is about impact on people," said Albert J. Novak Jr., interim vice chancellor for Institutional Advancement. "When you look at the number of people benefiting from scholarships, new campus facilities, and research funds, our donors can be confident that their contributions are having a significant impact. Every dollar matters. We need everyone at all levels to support and reach the University's campaign for $1 billion."

The newly-issued Pitt publication, Discover a World of Achievement, celebrates the generosity of Pitt's alumni and friends over the past fiscal year with the 2001-2002 Honor Roll of Donors, recognizing supporters from the largest donor category, the Commons Room Society of Donors of $100,000 or more—which includes Pitt's most benevolent contributors, such as William Robert Baierl and John M. and Gertrude E. Petersen—through a thousand-plus donors among the William Jacob Holland Society of Donors of $1,000 to $2,499.

The publication, produced by Institutional Advancement, the Alumni Association, and University Marketing Communications, also recognizes the contributions of administrators, faculty, and staff, including Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg and Provost James V. Maher at the John Bowman Society of Donors level, which recognizes donors who contributed from $10,000 to $24,999.

The report was mailed to all donors, including alumni and friends, and all members of the Alumni Association. The report does not reflect previous and current-year contributions and pledge payments, such as those of Baierl and the Petersens. Current-year payments will appear in future issues of the report.

###

1/21/03/tmw