This University has been blessed with the ardent and enthusiastic support

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		Wilmington Birmingham Atlanta Lynchburg

OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL COMMITMENT

A sampling of individual gifts reflects the outstanding generosity and commitment of those whose lives have been touched by the University:

An university should not be a house but a village." -- Thomas Jefferson to Littleton Waller Tazewell January 5, 1805

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

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.

   

• 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.