This was the best year yet for the Campaign for the University of Virginia. At a stage when most fund-raising efforts begin to lose their momentum, friends and supporters of the University, looking ahead to the demands of the new century, only increased their efforts.  Gifts, pledges, and other commitments received in the 1998-99 fiscal year amounted to nearly $198 million. The campaign total is expected to reach its $1 billion goal by the end of calendar year 1999, a full year ahead of schedule. The energy, vision, and persistence that campaign co-chairmen Edward C. Mitchell Jr. (Col '63) and Thomas A. Saunders III (Darden '67) brought to their posts help account for this outpouring of support.

The experience of the School of Engineering and Applied Science has been typical. The school surpassed its original campaign goal of $37.5 million this year and raised its target to $50 million, a 33 percent jump. It expects to record about $45 million in gifts by the end of 1999.

Making an Impact

The campaign's progress has been fueled by an extraordinary number of large gifts. The University received 153 commitments of $100,000 or more, including twenty-four totaling $1 million or more and five at or exceeding $10 million. Gifts of this magnitude allow the University to attain an entirely new level of excellence and to seize leadership opportunities in new and emerging fields. A perfect example is the $10 million unrestricted commitment to the Darden School from George David (Darden '67), of Hartford, Conn., chairman and CEO of United Technologies Corporation. This gift has allowed the school to begin work to complete its North Grounds complex, while also enhancing programs in entrepre-neurial leadership, launching new technology initiatives, and improving alumni career services. The Darden School also received a pledge of $13.3 million from an anonymous donor, the single largest gift in the school's history.

Another example is Jeffrey C. Walker's (Com '77) decision to create a $3 million endowed professorship in the McIntire School, the largest gift the University has received for an endowed chair.

Other such generous gifts help the University maintain its core strengths--serving students and supporting research. This year, the School of Medicine received two grants totaling more than $3 million from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The first benefits the school's Medical Academic Advancement Program, a six-week summer residential program that helps minorities and disadvantaged students prepare for a medical career, and the second supports Dr. William A. Knaus's genetic vulnerability studies through the development of Internet-accessible medical history software.

The sheer size of these gifts is not the only distinguishing feature of the campaign. It has also been marked by the breadth of its appeal. More than 126,000 individuals, corporations, and foundations have contributed to the campaign since its inception, a telling indicator of the University's beneficial influence on the lives of those it has touched.

A Revitalized University

The campaign has altered the entire fabric of the University. Most notable are the profusion of new buildings and construction projects under way such as the Darden School Grounds, the Carl Smith Center, and the David A. Harrison III Law Grounds. The second phase of the Scott Stadium expansion, including new end zone seating, a post-game press area, and locker facilities, was finished in time for the first home game of the 1999 season. The remainder of this $86 million project will be completed by September 2000.

Thanks to a $10 million pledge from David A. Harrison III, funding has been completed for a new library complex that will house the David A. Harrison III Institute of American History, Literature, and Culture and the Albert H. Small Special Collections Library. As a first step in creating a new home for the University's priceless collection of rare books and manuscripts, plans are under way to renovate Peabody Hall as home for the Office of Admission. Miller Hall, its present home, will then be razed and construction on the library begun in June 2000.

Virginia 2020: Our 3rd Century The extraordinary momentum generated by the capital campaign has given the University the rare opportunity to think boldly about the future and set its sights on becoming a world-class institution. The work of this strategic enterprise is being conducted by four commissions--in the fine and performing arts, science and technology, public service and outreach, and international activities--composed of some of the University's most thoughtful and dynamic faculty. The commissioners are currently in the midst of an eighteen-month endeavor defining the scope of the work, identifying exemplary and innovative programs, and determining how the University can adapt the best aspects of these programs to its own circumstances and mission. The commissions will conclude their deliberations and present their findings in early 2001. Drawing on the information they have gathered and analyzed, the commission chairs will issue detailed reports that include strategies for improving current programs and creating new ones, priorities for budgeting and fund-raising, and timelines for implementation. In short, they will be putting the elements in place to ensure that the University in its third century is as well equipped to serve its constituents as it has been in its first two.

The campaign has also allowed the University to restore, refurbish, and renew cherished existing buildings. Following on the heels of its $1 million challenge grant for the restoration of Pavilion VII, the Kenan Charitable Trust made a $500,000 challenge grant to create the William R. Kenan Jr. Endowed Fund for the Academical Village. This forward-looking grant is designed to finance educational initiatives related to the University's original buildings and grounds by advancing the training of specialists in historic preservation and allowing students in architecture, landscape architecture, architectural history, and planning to gain hands-on experience in the field.

Advancing on a Broad Front

The specific projects made possible by the campaign, though important in their own right, are far from isolated in their impact. In many instances, they reinforce and support other initiatives across the entire University. Among some of the many noteworthy contributions received this year:

• Jeanette M. and Vincent J. Gorman (Curry '84) of Bryn Mawr, Pa., have made a $2 million provision in their estate plans to create two endowed chairs, one in medieval history and the other in higher education.

• A bequest of more than $2 million from the late Dr. Charles I. Fuller Jr. (Med '45) has endowed a professorship in neonatology and a scholarship fund at the College at Wise.

• An anonymous donor has made a $1.5 million commitment of future support to fund a scholarship in the Virginia Student Aid Foundation.

• The School of Engineering will be able to offer additional scholarships to students, thanks to a charitable lead trust established by Colgate W. Darden III (Engr '53, Grad '54) that will provide a total of $1.1 million in income.

• Linwood A. Lacy Jr. (Engr '67, Darden '69) contributed more than $1 million to fund a new professorship in the engineering school. The gift was made in memory of his father, engineering school alumnus L. A. Lacy.

• John W. Glynn Jr. (Law '65) and his wife, Barbara (Grad '67) of Atherton, Ca., have funded a $1 million charitable remainder trust to support a project that will bridge the Darden School and the School of Law.

• Michael Horvitz (Law '75), of Cleveland, has pledged $1 million to fund a professorship and young teachers fund in the law school.

• John A. Griffin (Com '85) has made a $1 million commitment to the McIntire School for a new center to develop curricula and support research on creative approaches to investing.

• On the occasion of his 35th class reunion, James W. Todd (Darden '64) pledged $1 million to support the Darden School's case-method research and the Batten Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

• Richard A. Mayo (College '64, Darden '68) has pledged $1.5 million to help meet the Darden School's Batten Family Challenge and support the Batten Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

• Inge and Carl Hull of Charlottesville have included a $1 million bequest in their estate plans to fund a scholarship for medical or nursing students with an interest in the arts or humanities.

• Michael Jackson (McIntire '64) of Belvedere, Ca., has pledged $1 million to support the McIntire School of Commerce and the Polo Club.

• SNL Securities, a Charlottesville based high-tech publishing firm, has contributed a gift to the Darden, commerce, and engineering schools valued at more than $1.1 million by providing a subscription to its extensive databases on financial services.

• David Gies, professor of Spanish and chair of the Faculty Senate, and Janna Gies, managing editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, have made provisions in their estate plans to create a $1.3 million endowment for the Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.

• A Richmond couple has created a $1 million charitable lead trust that will benefit five charities, among them the interdisciplinary Jewish Studies Program in the College of Arts and Sciences.

• With a $1 million expectancy, Thomas F. Shannon (Law '53) of Washington, D.C., will endow a professorship and scholarship in the School of Law.

• Alvin V. Baird Jr. and his wife Nancy, of Harrisonburg, funded a chair for the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library.

Looking Ahead

As the campaign proceeds, the University is cultivating the next generation of volunteer leaders who will help realize our aspirations for Virginia 2020. Already, the University's supporters are mobilizing around efforts to make significant and sustained improvements in the University's programs in the fine and performing arts, science and technology, public service and outreach, and international activities. Among  new facilities envisioned by the master plan for the University Arts Precinct is a new building and concert hall for the music department. Dr. Alec C. Levin, of Washington, D.C., has made a gift of real estate worth more than $1.1 million to support the music project, and Henry J. Javor (Col '51), of Louisa County, has made a $300,000 gift for the building.

These efforts and others like them reveal a widespread and deeply held regard for the University and its mission. They also reflect an understanding of the challenges facing the University as it approaches its third century, as well as the expectation that the University will seize the opportunities that await it to serve the citizens of the Commonwealth and the nation.