Philanthropy Helps Fuel Growth

TTHIS ISSUE OF Arizona Engineer makes clear the college is on a growth trajectory that has accelerated under Dean Hahn’s leadership. And each step of the way, our alumni donors are partners with the college to help fuel this growth through their philanthropy.

Early on, Dean Hahn set several interconnected growth goals for the college in motion: double undergraduate enrollment; double research expenditures; expand in areas where we have the potential to lead; and strengthen our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

This themed issue presents several profiles of alumni and donors helping the college realize its goals – the Muzzy family is strengthening entrepreneurship and da Vinci Circle donors are helping Erin Ratcliff mentor graduate students. It was a distinct pleasure to see Nancy Berge and Barbara Berge Campbell present the top award at Craig M. Berge Design Day this year, knowing their family’s generosity is helping students graduate with substantial design experience.

I would like to highlight just a few additional examples of how outright and planned gifts are fueling growth and progress.

During the last three years, donors have contributed more than $4.8 million to establish new undergraduate scholarships or add to existing endowments. These new funds are allowing us to both award more scholarships to more students and increase the size of the awards. Alumni have also established funds specifically designed to support graduate fellows and help transfer students achieve engineering degrees. Additionally, alumni donors are making contributions that will enable the college to realize a longheld goal to build the Student Design and Innovation Center that will become the new home for future Engineering Wildcats, thereby creating a recruitment hub as well as a home for experiential education and thus enhancing the college’s four-year design program.

During the same time period, more than $9.5 million has been donated through outright and estate gifts to establish two faculty chairs. Kray Luxbacher holds the Gregory H. and Lisa S. Boyce Leadership Chair in

Mining and Geological Engineering. The Patrick R. Taylor Leadership Chair in Materials Science Engineering is held by Sammy Tin, whose work with hypersonic vehicles is covered in this issue. The J. David Lowell Director of the School of Mining and Mineral Resources was also established, and a $4 million planned gift will create future endowed chairs in aerospace and mechanical engineering.

Endowed faculty chairs and professorships can help meet multiple college growth goals at once by supporting faculty who will bring in new research grants and retaining our outstanding faculty members.

And finally, our DEI goals are being fueled by broad support for the ENGAGED program and the Raclare Cordis Kanal Inclusion Fund, which funds scholarships and DEI initiatives throughout the college.

It has been said that vision without action is just a dream. Thanks to the actions taken by hundreds of alumni and donors to support the college through their philanthropy, the vision for growth within the College of Engineering established by Dean Hahn is being realized today.

Margie Puerta Edson, CFRE Assistant Dean, Development and Corporate Relations 520.626.0572 puertaedson@arizona.edu