University of Maryland News

April 3, 2008

Fundraising Campaign Tops $500 Million

Halfway to Goal, Great Expectations Becoming Reality

Great Expectations
Hillman
Hillman Entrepreneurs
Guthrie
Prof. John T. Guthrie is the inaugural Jean Mullan Professor of Literacy.
Horowitz
Dean Gold, Dr. Horowitz, and Pres. Mote
 
Thanks to the committed support of our tremendous Maryland family near and far, Great Expectations, The Campaign for Maryland has passed the halfway mark in the quest to raise $1 billion to help assure the future of this great university.

Nearly 80,000 donors—alumni, faculty, staff, students, parents and friends—have so far answered the call to support their passions throughout the university. The incredible impact of these gifts is already becoming visible across the campus with new and expanded support for students, faculty, facilities and innovations in academic and student programs.

The Billion-Dollar Club

"The Terrapin spirit has taken hold to make a $1 billion goal that once loomed as a daunting challenge, now appear within our grasp," says Brodie Remington, vice president for university relations. "On March 31, the chronological mid-point of our seven-year campaign, we recorded gifts totaling $502,130,190, significantly more than the $476 million raised over the full course of our last campaign."

This landmark campaign positions Maryland among a group of only 26 higher education institutions across the country currently engaged in fundraising efforts with a goal of $1 billon or more. Remington noted that this was a lofty goal for a public university without a medical center or law school, which traditionally attract the largest philanthropic gifts. But the Maryland family has accepted the challenge and embraced the vision of Great Expectations to marshal the resources required to sustain the university's development as a world-class institution.

Gifts Making a Difference Today

With fully a third of the campaign goal dedicated to student support, thousands of students are already benefiting from vitally needed scholarship assistance, as well as support for enriching experiences like study abroad and service learning. The Maryland Incentive Awards Program expanded into Prince George's County, students are traveling to Italy to help restore the ancient ruins of Stabiae, and the Hillman Entrepreneurs Program is providing special opportunities for community college transfer students.

Growing support for endowed chairs and professorships provides the means to attract and retain nationally and internationally prominent faculty in a broad range of fields. New chairs have been added in health literacy, real estate development, economics, education, engineering, mathematics and many other areas. New scholars leading the way in their disciplines are joining our ranks and the eminence of long-time faculty scholars is being recognized. Included among these are Steven Salzberg, the Philip H. and Catherine C. Horvitz Professor in Computer Science, Vadim Kaloshin, the Michael Brin Professor in Mathematics and John T. Guthrie, the Jean Mullan Professor in Literacy.

Physical changes can also be seen across the campus. The new Chemistry Teaching Wing provides students with modern facilities for instruction and synthetic research and an interactive meeting space in the G. Forrest Woods Memorial Atrium. The Cole Field House pool has been transformed into a beautiful gallery and program space for the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora. Expansion and improvement of Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium is underway and ground will soon be broken for construction of Knight Hall, a new home for the Philip Merrill College of Journalism.

New programs like the Robert E. Fischell Department of Bioengineering, the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute Center for Persian Studies and the Joseph and Alma Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies are being added to our offerings, all with the aid of private gift support. Last year the new School of Public Health was launched along with the Herschel S. Horowitz Center for Health Literacy.

All these markers of progress point to an exciting future for the university as more of our great expectations are realized.