IMPACT, Winter 2018-19

IMPACT

get older you2018 start to think the SPECIAL ISSUE: ANNUAL REPORTabout TO DONORS longevityofthose things. Helping firstgeneration students improves social mobility, which makes the U.S. more competitive.Philanthropy got me where Iamtoday.Itisanhonorto be able to con tributetosomeone’s dream.Therewere people who helped us out when we had nothing.Whenyouhaveachancetohelp, you help. If we can support education, aware ness,safetyandcompassion,then thenthat’sa win. We all want to do good things, but as you get older you start to thinkaboutthelongevityofthosethings.

Helping first-generation students im proves social mobility, which makes the U.S. more competitive. Philanthropy got me where I am today. It is an honor to be able to contribute to someone’s dream. There were people who helped us out when we had nothing. When you haveachancetohelp, you help. If wecan supporteducation,awareness,safetyand compassion,thenthat’sawin.Weallwant to do good things, but as you get older 18 you start to think about the longevity T H E M AGA Z I N E O F I G N I T E : T H E C A M PA I G N F O R U C F

WINTER

Inside Winter 2018-19 | Issue 3, Volume 2

PHILANTHROPY AT WORK Opening to students in fall 2019, the Dr. Phillips Academic Commons will anchor the new downtown campus UCF shares with Valencia College. More than $30 million in philanthropic support for UCF Downtown from alumni, friends, corporations and nonprofits — including Dr. Phillips Charities, which has contributed $7 million — transformed the idea of a 21st-century campus in the heart of Orlando from vision to reality. Thank you.

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“ON OCTOBER 3, 2007, WE BROKE GROUND ON THE UCF COLLEGE OF MEDICINE. A TEACHING HOSPITAL WAS PART OF OUR DREAM THAT DAY.” — Dr. Deborah German, vice president for health affairs, speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the UCF Lake Nona Medical Center

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FLASH POINTS record alumni commitment / Provost Elizabeth Dooley Al-Ghazali Distinguished Professor / teaching hospital health care for farmworkers / student donors

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TEN MINUTES WITH… UCF President Dale Whittaker

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YEAR IN REVIEW Countless gifts, people, events and milestones helped define 2018 for UCF Advancement.

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34,000 REASONS WHY Each of the tens of thousands of donors who give to UCF every year has a unique — and often fascinating — motivation.

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NEW ENDOWED FUNDS IN 2018

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FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

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VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP IMPACT is published three times a year by UCF Advancement for alumni, friends and partners of the university who have made philanthropic commitments to IGNITE: The Campaign for UCF. Please direct correspondence and address changes to foundation@ucf.edu or Impact Editor, 12424 Research Parkway, Suite 250, Orlando, FL 32826.

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VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT AND CEO, UCF FOUNDATION, INC. Michael J. Morsberger, CFRE

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR COMMUNICATIONS Patrick Crowley

MANAGING EDITOR Zack Thomas

ART DIRECTOR John Sizing | jspublicationdesign.com

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Joyce (left) and Vince (right) Virga with UCF President Dale Whittaker

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Building Connections

Historic Generosity

Alumni couple commits $10.25 million to Athletics, College of Business.

In September, Vince ’95 and Joyce ’98 Virga announced that they had made a commitment of $10.25 million to UCF — the largest alumni gift in the university’s history. A combination of cash and estate resources, the commitment supports the nationally recognized, competitive Professional Selling Program in the College of Business and the UCF Athletic Director’s Fund, which is used to help student-athletes continue to compete at the highest level.

Leaders in the high-end information technology staffing field, the Virgas credit UCF for serving as the impetus for many of their professional accomplishments and were excited to make such a generous gift. “The culture of innovation and the national accomplishments of the Professional Selling Program truly inspired us,” says Vince.

As first-generation college students, Vince and Joyce say they had no idea how the rest of their lives would be impacted as a result of their time at UCF. “It is the backdrop of some of our fondest memories and the place where we forged lifelong friendships,” says Joyce. “It is also the place where we met and started our lives together. It’s truly an honor to be able to give back to an institution that has given us so much.”

“UCF IS THE BACKDROP OF SOME OF OUR FONDEST MEMORIES.”

“UCF HAS A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE A MODEL FOR DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN HIGHER EDUCATION. HARNESSING THE POWER OF OUR SCALE, WE CAN DEMONSTRATE HOW DIVERSE VIEWPOINTS FUEL EXCEPTIONAL STUDENT OUTCOMES, CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH AND FACULTY EXCELLENCE.” —UCF Provost Elizabeth Dooley, speaking this summer. Dooley, who holds a doctorate in education and a master’s in special education, was named to her position in October after serving as interim provost since April, when now-President Dale Whittaker stepped down from the role.

As chief academic officer, Dooley, who began her career as a public school teacher and is the daughter of a coal miner, provides leadership for UCF’s 13 colleges as well as its research centers and institutes.

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When Cyrus Zargar first saw UCF’s advertisement for the inaugural Endowed Al-Ghazali Distinguished Professor in Islamic Studies, he knew it was something special. “I started reading the job description and I said, ‘Hey, this is me.’”

“I like to create things,” Zargar says. “The opportunities at UCF are remarkable. There is incredible cultural diversity here. Now imagine, from that, building literacy in other cultures and faiths and experiences in this place.”

The Al-Ghazali Distinguished Professorship was created through donations from hundreds of members of Central Florida’s Islamic community. The funds from the endowment allow Zargar to build the program through speakers, events and new vehicles for interfaith dialogue.

His long-term desire is to build connections among students and faculty for talking religion, theology and social issues. “We can create the environment and opportunities to work through the things that trouble us,” Zargar says. “Wouldn’t it be great if UCF became known in the state for its interfaith dialogue?”

Zargar knows that the subjects he teaches have potential for controversy, and he’s ready to guide students through their questions and concerns.

“It’s easy to give students simple, pat answers.” Zargar says.

“I prefer to take them deeper and help them discover the answers for themselves.”

Cyrus Zargar, Al-Ghazali Distinguished Professor in Islamic Studies

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Ground Broken for Teaching Hospital Ground was broken in late October for the UCF Lake Nona Medical Center, due to open in late 2020. The hospital is a joint venture between UCF and HCA, one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare services.

UCF President Dale Whittaker says the hospital embodies a bold, collaborative spirit that will “make Orlando a destination for how health and wellness should be taught and practiced in the 21st century.”

Dr. Deborah German, vice president for health affairs and founding dean of the UCF College of Medicine, says a teaching hospital has been a dream since the college first broke ground in 2007. “We knew then what we know today — that we needed a teaching hospital to accomplish our goal to be one of the nation’s premier 21st century medical schools, anchoring a Medical City that could one day be a global destination.”

HCA is spending $175 million to build and begin operating the hospital, which will be part of UCF’s new Academic Health Sciences Center, a comprehensive center bringing together education, research and patient care.

No state dollars are being used.

Grant Helps Fund Clinics

A commitment from the Florida Blue Foundation will help UCF students and faculty offer free care to Apopka-area farmworkers.

An interdisciplinary team of UCF medical, nursing, physical therapy and social work students and faculty provide regular health care to farmworkers and their families during quarterly clinics.

“THIS IS SOMETHING I TREASURE AS AN INSTRUCTOR AND A NURSE.”

The UCF Lake Nona Medical Center is slated to open in late 2020.

NUMBER OF STUDENT DONORS TO THE UCF FUND DURING FISCAL YEAR 2018, a new record and a 78-percent increase over the year before. Their combined giving totaled $30,308, representing a 91-percent increase over 2017.

Many made gifts in the amount of $20.18.

Thousands of uninsured farmworkers living in the Apopka area will soon have improved access to regular health care from UCF’s Comprehensive Medical Care Outreach Team (CMOT), thanks to a generous grant from the Florida Blue Foundation.

Composed of students and faculty from UCF’s medical, nursing, physical therapy and social work schools and the University of Florida’s pharmacy school, the CMOT has been running clinics at the Apopka office of the Florida Farmworker Association about every three months since the summer of 2016. The clinics provide free care to area farmworkers.

Dr. Heather Peralta, a UCF nursing faculty member who lives in Apopka, helped organize the effort. “Watching all of the students work together for the good of this underserved population is something I treasure as an instructor, as a nurse and as an Apopkan,” she says.

This kind of interdisciplinary collaboration is central to the new Academic Health Sciences Center at Lake Nona, which brings together related academic, clinical and research programs and services to grow research, education, patient care and community engagement.

The Florida Blue Foundation grant will provide needed funding for medical equipment and supplies used during the clinics, and for a dedicated faculty member from UCF’s College of Nursing to lead the effort.

The Florida Blue Foundation enables healthy communities by making grants, building coalitions and rewarding best practices. Florida Blue and the Florida Blue Foundation have generously supported a wide range of UCF initiatives for more than 15 years, with their cumulative giving totaling more than $1 million.

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10 MINUTES WITH...

Dale Whittaker

he had been named presidentelect, he said, “What you’re going to see in my presidency is a very high level of engagement with donors, a person who gets out and tells stories, a person who listens very carefully to those who support us.”

T

UCF President

oo often, fundraising and engagement organizations like UCF Advancement are viewed by the public universities they exist to support as somehow separate. Technically, that’s true. The UCF Foundation, Inc., is in fact a separate legal entity with its own board You’ve said that philanthropy of directors. Practically, though, it’s counterproductive. In order for will play an increasingly critical a comprehensive campaign like IGNITE to succeed, administration and faculty role for public universities in the coming years. Why is that, must see it not only as the vital effort it is, but also as an alland what might it look like hands-on-deck priority for the whole university, not just here at UCF? something “the foundation” is doing.

In so many ways, universities Early in his tenure as UCF President — in “I BELIEVE A are the engines of our comfact, even before he officially assumed the role munities. They produce the UNIVERSITY’S talent, ideas and innovain July — Dale Whittaker made clear that he LEGACY IS CREATED tion that push our states agreed. “For public institutions,” he told UCF’s and country forward.

BY ITS ALUMNI, Board of Trustees during the interview process, That’s why we need to SUPPORTERS AND “philanthropy is the margin of success. When find additional ways to FRIENDS.” invest in their success. we do something exceptional, it’s often because For many institutions, we have friends that believe in us. So the role of especially those that are still philanthropy going forward will become more and building like UCF, philanthropy more critical.” Then at a press conference announcing is our margin of excellence, igniteucf.org

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especially when we have to think beyond state support. Support from alumni, business leaders, corporations and foundations allows us to amplify those efforts, to have an even greater impact than we would otherwise. We’re very fortunate to have generous supporters and alumni who’ve given back to multiple areas across the university. I’m thinking about people like the Rosengrens, whose generosity has benefitted everyone from PTSD sufferers to those who want to learn foreign languages, from football fans to lovers of sea turtles. That’s what’s great about a big university like UCF: the ways people can show their support is only limited by their passions.

What do you see as the most important fundraising priorities for UCF over the next 5 years or so?

One of the areas I am most excited about at UCF is our potential in developing the model for how contemporary health and wellness are practiced. Lake Nona is itself a living laboratory, and with the recent groundbreaking for our new hospital in partnership with HCA, and the upcoming UCF Lake Nona Cancer Center taking over from Sanford Burham Prebys, we now have all the pieces in place — health education, research and patient care — to be the leading health science center for the 21st century. What we need to put us over the top, to achieve that margin of excellence, is the support of our alumni, donors and friends.

That’s a very real example of the transformative power of giving.

We’re talking about saving lives.

Although UCF’s alumni giving rate has increased sharply in the last few years, it has historically been fairly low. Why do you think that is, and how can it be increased?

I think that’s because UCF is still a fairly young institution — barely 50 years old. But as we grow, so does our alumni base and the number of people whose UCF degree has impacted their lives and those of their families. I’m incredibly excited

about the smart, talented and enthusiastic alumni I’ve met and talked with since becoming president. They’re an engaged group. They care deeply about the future. And they each have a story to tell. My job is to encourage them to tell their stories and be ambassadors for UCF as the Knight Nation grows across the country.

That’s because they embody the best of who we are and what happens when you invest in UCF and our collective mission to make a difference for our students and society.

“WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT THIS UNIVERSITY HAS ACCOMPLISHED, YOU CAN ONLY FEEL OPTIMISTIC.”

In terms of philanthropic support for UCF, what makes you most optimistic about the future?

We have become a higher education success story that is ready to be capitalized on from the perspective of major foundations: Helios, Gates, Lumina. In higher

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education, reputation lags reality, but these types of foundations look at the data, and they don’t make a decision on where to invest their resources without having full confidence in an institution’s likelihood to succeed. And they are betting on UCF. Ultimately, I believe in our people. I believe in their willingness to pitch in, to contribute, to offer their ideas and talent. When you

look at what this university has accomplished in such a short time, you can only feel optimistic.

If you could speak directly to all 290,000+ UCF alumni for a minute, what would you say about the importance of giving back to the university?

When I was provost, I said that great universities are built by great faculty. I believe a university’s legacy, though, is created by its alumni, supporters and friends. Legacies are about reputation — but they’re also about investment. It is an investment in the most important sense of the word because it pays dividends in the difference it makes in people’s lives. When you’re building a legacy, giving feels good.

Giving provides you with a deeper connection to an institution and its people. It says, “We’re in this together.” Because we are. We’re all in this together.

Notes of Gratitude

In this space, we feature excerpts from thank-you letters the foundation receives from students and others whose lives have been changed by donors like you. This one came from Kevin Haran, an associate professor in UCF’s School of Visual Arts & Design and the Jenkins Distinguished Scholar in Community Arts.

10/1/18 I would like to express my sincer e thanks for the generous gift tha t has resulted in the William S. and Alice M. Jen kins Eminent Scholar Chair End owment at UCF. Funds from the endowme nt support a program that will benefit our students by providing hands-on experience while assisting our community partners with their programm ing or education in the visual art s.

This year the School of Visual Art s and Design (SVAD) plans to par tner with Crealdé School of Art, the Maitla nd Art Center and Snap! Orland o. Selected students designated “Jenkins Com munity Arts Scholars” will be pla ced in these organizations, strengthening the relationship between UCF, the visual arts community and the artistic and philanthropic goals of this end owment.

This fall, SVAD is also coordinat ing with the Oviedo-Winter Spr ings Regional Chamber of Commerce on three one-time $500 Jenkins scholarsh ips for high school students who plan to enr oll at UCF in SVAD programs nex t fall.

Having started at UCF over 20 years ago as a visiting artist to the schools (made possible by the Jenkins Endowment), I am honored to return to a leadership capacity to ensure tha t your gift is applied effectively igniteucf.org .

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YEAR IN REVIEW / JULY

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Countless people, gifts, events and milestones together defined fiscal year 2018 for UCF Advancement. Here are a few of the most memorable.

Peach Bowl Win On January 1, 12th-ranked UCF upsets 7th-ranked Auburn 34 – 27 in the Peach Bowl to close out an undefeated football season. Energized by the Knights’ performance, donors contribute a record-setting $13.4 million in cash to support UCF Athletics during fiscal year 2018, a nearly 25-percent increase over the $10.9 million given the year before — itself a record at the time.

The Nicholson Fieldhouse (left) is part of UCF’s vision for a world-class Athletics Village.

Nicholson Renovation

An electrifying Peach Bowl win put an exclamation point on a historic, undefeated season for the Knights.

Tony HC’17 and Sonja Nicholson, who gave $2 million back in 2004 to fund construction of the Nicholson Fieldhouse, commit another $2 million to help fund renovations and improvements to the fieldhouse and to support UCF Athletics’ vision for a world-class Athletics Village. The Nicholsons are also the namesakes of the Nicholson School of Communication and Media.

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

Irma Response In the wake of Hurricane Irma, UCF Foundation board chair Nelson Marchioli ’72 and his wife, Carole, offer to match up to $25,000 in donations to help keep shelves stocked at the Knights Helping Knights Pantry.

More than 500 donors respond to the challenge, including one anonymous donor who makes a $10,000 gift. Total giving exceeds $92,000.

Irma spins along the I-4 corridor in September 2017.

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER UCF’s planned FinTech program will be led by the holder of a new endowed faculty position funded

by FAIRWINDS.

Grand rounds are a time-honored medical school tradition.

Grand Rounds Endowment The Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation gives $100,000 to establish the Dr. John C. and Martha Hitt Grand Rounds Endowment in honor of the Hitts’ service. The endowment will help fund grand rounds — a medical school tradition bringing together physicians and students to discuss cases and treatments — at the College of Medicine in perpetuity.

With this gift, the Edyth Bush Foundation exceeds $1 million in cumulative giving to UCF.

2018 ANNUAL REPORT TO DONORS U C F F O U N D AT I O N I N C .

FinTech Professorship FAIRWINDS Credit Union announces a commitment of $1.1 million to establish an endowed professorship in the College of Business for a proposed financial technology (FinTech) program, the first of its kind in Florida’s State University System. CEO Larry Tobin ’83 says the gift — along with another $100,000 to renovate the Dr. Hitt Library in the FAIRWINDS Alumni Center — is in honor of President Emeritus John Hitt’s service.

1, 2017 – JUNE 30, 2018

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President-elect Whittaker On March 29, the Florida Board of Governors unanimously confirms the selection of Dale Whittaker as UCF’s fifth president, effective July 1. Whittaker, who served the university as provost and executive vice president for three-and-ahalf years, says that philanthropy is the “margin of success” for public institutions and will play an increasingly important role in UCF’s future.

UCF Day of Giving Nearly 2,000 donors from 33 states, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom combine to give more than $157,000 during the first-ever UCF Day of Giving, a 24-hour, mostly online fundraising effort. More than half of them are UCF alumni, and more than a third of those alumni are graduates from the last decade — promising signs for the future of philanthropy at UCF.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

The John C. Hitt Initiative for Faculty Excellence was announced at an April 13 reception for Hitt and his wife, Martha.

Faculty Support

The selection of Dale Whittaker as UCF’s fifth president was confirmed March 29.

MARCH

The John C. Hitt Initiative for Faculty Excellence, a focused effort to secure $10 million in private support for new endowed faculty positions in honor of the outgoing president’s service to UCF, is publicly unveiled during an April 13 reception for Hitt H’17 and his wife, Martha. Also celebrated that night are five faculty positions that have already been established as part of the initiative by donors Steve Goldman, Jim ’81 and Julia Rosengren, FAIRWINDS Credit Union and Florida Apothecary.

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MAY

JUNE

Historic Commitment

$81 Million!

Jim ’81 and Julia Rosengren announce a commitment of $6.6 million to support a wide variety of programs and initiatives across the university. Among them are a new endowed chair position in UCF’s renowned PTSD clinic and a new endowed professorship in the College of Sciences. The commitment also benefits the Marine Turtle Research Group, the football program and the Department of Modern Languages & Literatures.

On June 30, fiscal year 2018 closes as the best so far in the IGNITE Campaign with more than $81 million in total gifts and commitments from over 34,000 donors. Days later, in early July, total gifts and commitments to the campaign surpass $400 million.

The target date for completion of the $500 million campaign is June 2019.

Special-edition pins were given to donors making gifts to honor President Emeritus John C. Hitt’s service.

Hitt Squad

Jim ’81 and Julia Rosengren celebrated the opening of the Rosengren Trauma Clinic with director Deborah Beidel (center).

The UCF Fund partners with Pegasus magazine to offer special “Hitt Squad” pins for donors who choose to honor President Emeritus John C. Hitt’s 26 years of service with donations of $26. More than 500 gifts are made. A number of donors make significantly larger gifts, though, and total giving exceeds $20,000.

A record year in 2018 pushed the IGNITE Campaign past $400 million.

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This year, 34,318 donors gave to support UCF and its students. That’s big.

But their often surprising and compelling motivations for doing so are the real story.

34,000 Reasons Why Of the tens of thousands of people and organizations that give to UCF every year, there are certainly some who do so mainly for tax purposes or other pragmatic reasons. And we’re grateful when they choose UCF as the recipient. But the fact is that most donors have intensely personal — and wonderfully diverse — reasons for giving.

We don’t get a chance to ask most of them about their motivation, but when we do, the stories they tell are often the kind you feel honored to hear, the kind that stay with you. And however different those stories may be, they all end the same way — with the extraordinarily generous act of giving to help others realize their dreams.

We thank the five featured here along with the more than 34,000 others who combined this year to make 2018 the best year so far of the IGNITE Campaign.

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“Scholarships are the fuel students need to reach the finish line. It is an honor to be able to contribute to someone’s dream.”

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Never in Question “Philanthropy is truly a phenomenon to me,” says Eliany Torrez Pon ’18. “It’s what got me to where I am today.”

Today, Torrez Pon is a registered nurse at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando, working to ensure that the young patients in her care are “given the chance to succeed and reach their dreams,” just as she did. She sings Disney songs and offers hugs and hope as she nurtures

Eliany Torrez Pon ’18

her patients through a tough time.

Just two years ago, though, the first-generation student found herself in a difficult situation, as she considered putting her studies on hold due to a family financial crisis. The money she had saved for school had to be sent to Nicaragua to help pay for cancer treatment for her grandmother.

Thanks to a scholarship from the Vivian and Barry Woods Foundation, though, Torrez Pon

was able to stay in school and graduate with her degree in nursing. “The money enabled me to focus on saving lives,” she says, “rather than wondering how I would pay for my next semester.”

After that, giving back herself was never in question. This year, she and her mother teamed up to make a generous gift in memory of her grandmother that will help fund scholarships for firstgeneration nursing students —

like the scholarship that made such a difference for her.

Next to being a nurse, Torrez Pon says, supporting scholarships is one of the most important things she does. “Those who donate to scholarships and education are the fuel students need to reach the finish line,” she says. “It is an honor to contribute to someone’s dream.” I

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“We all want to do good things, but as you get older you also start to think about the longevity of the good things you do.”

Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities Jeff Moore

Legacy of Access If you’re looking for a tweedjacketed, stodgy stereotype of a college dean, you won’t find it in Jeff Moore, dean of UCF’s College of Arts and Humanities. Moore is as comfortable behind a drum set as he is in the administrative suite.

He also still teaches classes — unusual for a sitting dean — and is an author, composer, performer and, most recently, a philanthropist.

Moore and his wife have made a planned gift commitment to establish the Jeff and Mindy Moore Endowed Music Scholarship, which will provide scholarships to students studying percussion at UCF for generations to come. The Moores have generously supported other arts-related UCF endeavors including the new UCF Band Practice Facility and the “UCF

Celebrates the Arts” festival.

“We all want to do good things, but as you get older you also start to think about the longevity of the good things you do,” says Moore.

“A planned gift was the logical way to ensure that the values my wife and I share — about access to higher education and having the ability to study music, percussion in particular — will carry on after we are gone.”

Moore himself received scholarships as a college student that helped make his career possible.

“My family wasn’t wealthy and I was the first to go to college,” he says, “so I had to get academic scholarships. Because of them, I was able to get the kind of education I was looking

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for in percussion, and I wound up creating a network of friends from across the country.”

As he looks to the future of his college, Moore says he wants to see more interdisciplinary efforts incorporating arts and humanities into seemingly unrelated subjects.

“Far from ‘soft skills,’ I think training in the humanities and the arts represent ‘core skills’ for being a well-rounded, happy human being,” says Moore.

“Whatever your endeavor is — if you love computers, if you love engineering, if you love medicine — the humanities will help inform your perspective, allowing you to see how your activities and interactions may impact all of mankind.” I

Britt ’93 and Kathy Massing with their sons

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Inspired to Action

Britt Massing ’93 had been drinking alcoholically since starting college, and his wife had had enough. One morning in the summer of 2013, she gave him a simple choice: get help or move out.

His first thought was, Now I can get my own place and drink as much as I want and nobody will say anything about it. Right on the heels of that thought came another: I’m going to die, alone, and I won’t get to raise my boys. Days later, he was in treatment.

He started his recovery with plenty of advantages: a comfortable income to afford good treatment; a loving wife and two young sons he adored to help him remember why he was there; and a spacious home to avoid the people and situations that could lead to relapse. But it was still hard.

Just imagine, he says now, what it must be like to be in recovery from addiction as a college student — possibly without family nearby, likely without much in the way of financial resources, almost certainly without a place of your own to avoid negative influences.

And also, in many cases, judged and looked down on by peers who either don’t know or don’t believe that addiction is a disease, not a moral failing.

That’s what inspired the Massings to make a gift this year creating an endowment to support the work of the Campus Recovery Community at UCF, a program that provides a nonjudgmental, supportive environment for those students. The CRC, run by Thomas Hall, a recognized authority on such programs, strives not just to support students in recovery but also to de-stigmatize the disease of addiction and those who suffer from it. The Massings’ gift is the first philanthropic commitment to the CRC and will

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“We might not be in a position to fund treatment or research, but if we can support education, awareness, safety, compassion, then that’s a win.” fund book scholarships for students in recovery and help CRC students achieve their personal and academic potential.

The struggles faced by students in recovery have also inspired Massing — now president of a successful staffing company with offices in Central Florida, South Florida, and Virginia — to direct action, sharing his story with students. “The silence is killing people,” he says. “The National Institutes of Health says 1 in 8 people are affected by addiction. But nobody wants to talk about it. And I will.” I

“We not only hope our gift helps first-generation students graduate but also that higher education will be an expectation for their children.”

Chris ’94 and Kathy Marlin with their daughters

Practical and Personal

There were, of course, personal reasons that led Chris Marlin ’94 and his family to make a gift to fund scholarships for firstgeneration students in UCF’s Burnett Honors College. But there were practical reasons too. “Social mobility in the U.S. contributed significantly to our leadership role in the world over the last 70 years or so, but we’re starting to fall behind” he says. “Helping firstgeneration students go to college improves social mobility, which

2018 ANNUAL REPORT TO DONORS U C F F O U N D AT I O N I N C .

makes the U.S. more competitive.”

Social mobility and global competitiveness are subjects Marlin knows something about.

A first-generation student himself and the oldest son of a construction worker who moved the family around the country following work, Marlin had lived in 19 in different places and seven different states by the time he finished high school. Still, he parlayed stellar high school grades into a spot in what was

then the UCF Honors Program and an attractive financial aid package that made it possible for him to attend.

At UCF, Marlin was elected student body president and distinguished himself as UCF’s first-ever finalist for a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, then moved on to law school at Emory, earning “most outstanding graduate student” honors before embarking on a similarly impressive career that has included not just legal practice but also crisis management and policy making. Now president of Lennar International, the global engagement arm of America’s largest homebuilder, Marlin travels the world; this fall found him in Tianjin, China, for a World Economic Forum meeting one week and in New York for events surrounding the United Nations General Assembly the next.

As for the personal reasons, Marlin sees his younger self in the high-achieving first-generation students the scholarship will help. Many first-generation students are also immigrants seeking opportunity in the U.S., and in them he sees his wife, who emigrated from Jamaica as a child, and many of the people he encounters abroad. “This was something that benefitted UCF and at the same time fit within our family’s narrative,” he says.

The fact that the state of Florida currently matches contributions to fund first-generation scholarships on a 2:1 basis — effectively tripling the impact of the gift — didn’t hurt either.

Following Marlin’s lead, his younger brother went to college too. Both now have young children of their own. “They’re a still long way from college,” he says, “but once you’ve had this opportunity, it becomes an expectation for your children, as opposed to a hope or a wish.” Ultimately, that’s exactly the impact he hopes his family’s gift will have on others.

“We hope it helps first-generation students graduate from UCF, but we also hope that higher education will be an expectation for their children and future generations.” I

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Time to Give In the summer of 1972, Dr. Zaby Vyas had just finished medical school at Uganda’s Makerere University when the military dictator Idi Amin abruptly ordered the expulsion of the country’s Asian population, giving them 90 days to get out. She and her husband, Suree, left everything they couldn’t fit in their suitcases and fled to England.

It might be the opening of a novel, and the pair’s remarkable path has continued unfolding that way, most recently leading them to UCF, where they’ve made a generous gift to help medical and nursing students.

In London, Zaby completed her residency and went into practice as a family doctor while Suree took a position in airline management, working in England and East Africa. They never got accustomed to the English climate, though, and in 1982, while visiting the U.S., Zaby interviewed with the University of Florida for a residency in family medicine. That summer, the university called her

in England to tell her she had a spot but that orientation was in two weeks. Again — but under very different circumstances — she packed hurriedly and left for a new continent with only her suitcases.

Suree joined her after tying up loose ends in England and not long after Zaby finished her residency, they bought a small practice in Seminole County. It was slow going at first, with Zaby treating students at Rollins College to help make ends meet, then seeing her own patients in the afternoons. With Zaby’s dedication to patient care and Suree’s business savvy, though, the practice evolved quickly, becoming a forerunner of today’s Medicare HMOs. Their group, Associated Family Medicine, worked to coordinate care and reduce hospitalizations for Medicare patients by providing what was then a new kind of care. “We didn’t want to just treat patients when they got sick,” Zaby says. “We wanted to keep the illness from ever occurring.”

The group grew to 18 doctors and a staff of 70, caring for almost 10,000 Medicare patients at offices across Seminole and Orange counties, before they eventually sold a much larger coordinated care group with a similar approach.

Today, Zaby still sees patients part-time, but the pair spends more time on travel and philanthropy. Recently they returned to Uganda to visit the Franciscan primary school Zaby attended, making a gift to fund construction of a playground and sports fields. At UCF, their gift will fund scholarships for medical students, with preference given to female students interested in primary care, and for nursing students, with preference given to those facing unexpected financial hardships.

“People need help in this world,” says Suree. “There were people who helped us out when we had nothing, when we were thrown out of our country. When you have a chance to help, you help.” I

“There were people who helped us out when we had nothing, when we were thrown out of our country. When you have a chance to help, you help.”

> Dr. Zaby (right) and Suree Vyas

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I M PACT

New Endowed Funds in 2018 Endowment gifts are vital to UCF’s pursuit of excellence, and growing the endowment pool is a key priority of the IGNITE Campaign. Because they are invested in perpetuity, such gifts represent a relatively stable source of funding that is largely unaffected by fluctuations in state support, tuition revenue and non-endowment giving. We salute the donors who established new endowed funds in Fiscal Year 2018 to benefit UCF and its students.

Rosane and Scott Cooper Internship Endowment Fund Scott ’91 and Rosane Cooper, parents of a current UCF student, established this fund to help students afford to accept unpaid internships. It is open to all UCF students, with preference given to Burnett Honors College students who demonstrate financial need or who participate in internships outside of Central Florida.

Ahmed E. and Wendy S. Radwan Endowed Scholarship Fund Ahmed Radwan, a former UCF professor specializing in transportation engineering, traffic engineering and Intelligent Transportation Systems, established this fund with his wife, Wendy Shaffer Radwan.

Scholarships will be awarded to full-time students in the College of Engineering and Computer Science who are involved in leadership and/ or student organization activities.

WUCF-FM 50 for 50 Endowed Fund This fund was established for WUCF-FM, Orlando’s jazz soundtrack for listeners across Central Florida over the air and online, to provide operational support.

WUCF-FM Director Kayonne Riley

mersion student and language enthusiast, established this fund to provide support for the Modern Languages and Literatures Department, with an emphasis on the STARTALK language and culture immersion program and other programs that offer learning opportunities for students and the community.

Nurses First Solutions founders Alvin Cortez ’08 (left) and Richard Manuel

Nurses First Solutions of John S. McConnell to support Endowed Scholarship for full-time undergraduate Graduate Students students who have Launched in 2014 in the UCF demonstrated leadBusiness Incubator, Nurses ership at UCF and/ First Solutions provides nurses or service to the to facilities in need of skilled local community. health care professionals. The Preference is given John S. McConnell to students who organization established the scholarship fund to support stuparticipated in the dents seeking their master’s and Service-Dog Training and Educadoctoral degrees at UCF’s College tion Program and/or students who of Nursing. have held leadership roles with Volunteer UCF in animal awareness Brian Filzer Memorial Endowed or advocacy.

Scholarship Fund Dr. Ravi and Dr. Udita Jahagirdar Lisa A. Filzer ’03, an employee in Endowed M.D. Scholarship the College of Health Professions and Sciences, established this fund Ravindra R. and Udita Jahagirdar with contributions from her mother, established this scholarship fund Betty J. Filzer, in memory of Lisa’s to provide annual scholarship brother, William Brian Filzer. Scholawards to full-time fourth-year arships will be awarded to students medical students. One award will in the College of Engineering and show preference to a student with Computer Science, with preference an interest in the Indian subcontigiven to students involved in comnent culture and another will show munity service. preference to students who have financial need.

John S. McConnell Endowed Memorial Scholarship Julia Rosengren Endowed Fund for Modern Languages Rachel A. Schaefer ’18MNM established this scholarship in memory Julia Rosengren, a Russian im-

2018 ANNUAL REPORT TO DONORS U C F F O U N D AT I O N I N C .

James and Julia Rosengren Endowed Chair This endowed chair, established by donors James ’81 and Julia Rosengren, will provide support for the activities of UCF RESTORES, a clinic which treats veterans and first responders with PTSD. The endowed chair will be a key faculty member in the College of Sciences.

FAIRWINDS Credit Union Endowed Professorship FAIRWINDS Credit Union endowed this prestigious position in UCF’s FinTech program, the first of its kind among Florida’s state universities. Funds from the endowment will support a high-caliber faculty

Members of the FAIRWINDS management team accepting the UCF Partnership Award in 2015

member who will engage in teaching, research and scholarly activities relating to the rapidly evolving area of financial technology.

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Martha Hitt

I M PACT

Endowed Professorship in Botanical Medicine This fund was established by the Florida Apothecary in order to support a key faculty member in the College of Medicine who will engage in teaching, research and scholarly activities relating to the medical uses of cannabis and cannabis-related compounds.

Beryl R. Colbourn Study Abroad Endowed Fund Former UCF first lady Beryl Colbourn established this endowed fund to make study abroad programs more accessible to students.

This fund will provide support for students with financial need who have not traveled internationally and seek to participate in a semester-long study abroad experience.

Pamela S. Ferrante ’85 ’95MEd established this scholarship fund to support students who identify as LGBTQ and exhibit academic excellence through their coursework or other academic endeavors such as undergraduate research.

Carol and Jason Hendren First Generation Endowed Scholarship Jason Hendren ’96 ’00MBA and Carol Hendren ’96 ’99MS established this scholarship fund to provide support for full-time undergraduate students who are the first in their families to attend college and are residents of the state of Florida, with preference given to students who have demonstrated involvement in extracurricular activities.

UCF students in South Africa’s Golden Gate Highlands National Park

Professor Emeritus Llewellyn Ehrhart

S & Z Vyas Charitable Foundation Endowed M.D. Scholarship The S & Z Vyas Charitable Foundation, whose mission is to provide funding for education of underprivileged individuals, established this fund to provide scholarships to students in the College of Medicine’s M.D. program, with preference given to female students and/or students who have an interest in family practice.

S & Z Vyas Charitable Foundation Endowed Nursing Scholarship The S & Z Vyas Charitable Foundation established this scholarship to provide awards to students enrolled in the College of Nursing’s Family Nurse Practitioner Program, specifically those who have an emergency and/or unexpected financial hardship during their education.

Tomasso Family First Generation Endowed Scholarship This scholarship fund was established by Christopher ’93 and Melissa ’94 Tomasso to provide support for full-time undergraduate students who are the first in their families to attend college and have demonstrated financial need.

Ferrante Family LGBTQ Endowed Scholarship Inspired by their daughter’s experience as an LGBTQ student at UCF, Michael A. ’15MS and

Professor Llewellyn M. Ehrhart Undergraduate Scholarship in Natural History Donors Clay Scherer ’94 and Juliann Hickey ’95 established this fund in honor of Professor Emeritus Llewellyn Ehrhart, a vertebrate zoologist whose work was focused on reproduction, population biology, ecologic geography and conservation biology of marine turtles. The fund provides scholarship awards to students in the College of Sciences majoring in biology.

Martha H. Hitt First Generation Endowed Scholarship Dr. John C. and Martha H. Hitt established this fund to support full-time undergraduate students who are the first in their families to attend college and have demonstrated involvement and leadership at UCF. Alfred I. duPont Endowed Nursing Scholarship Fund The Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust, one of America’s most generous supporters of pediatric health care, has established this scholarship to support students

enrolled in the College of Nursing who have demonstrated an interest in the field of pediatrics.

Hazel L. Hogan Nursing Scholarship This fund was established by Rosemarie C. Walsh in memory of Commander Hazel L. Hogan, a nurse who served in the Navy Nurses Corp for 24 years. After

Cmdr. Hazel Hogan

she retired from the Navy, Hogan became a professor at UCF and was instrumental in establishing the Florida Chapter of the Navy Nurse Corps Association. The scholarship supports advanced practice nursing students.

MAKE AN IMPACT To learn more about establishing an endowment at UCF, contact us at 407.882.1220 or foundation@ucf.edu.

U C F F O U N D AT I O N I N C . 2018 ANNUAL REPORT TO DONORS

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16

2018 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (July 1, 2017 - June 30, 2018)

I M PACT

FUNDRAISING RESULTS

$81,014,579

96,206 34,318

Total gifts and commitments

Number of donors

Number of gifts

(Includes cash gifts, pledges, securities, gifts in kind and planned gifts)

Buildings and Equipment

28%

Friends

54%

%

34%

%

Alumni

DONOR CLASSIFICATION

19%

DESIGNATED USE

Endowment

Corporations

24%

Current Use

17%

Foundations

10%

Undetermined

Organizations

1%

13%

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ENDOWMENT PERFORMANCE

FY 2018 (7/1/17 - 6/30/18)

Beginning market value Net cash flow Appreciation Ending market value

$155,925,342 $150,477,898 $138,560,878 $(3,971,627) $(16,671,371) $(30,138,570) $10,749,245 $28,896,433 $54,280,652 $162,702,960 $162,702,960 $162,702,960

Endowment pool investment return

LAST 3 YEARS (7/1/15 - 6/30/18)

6.4%

LAST 5 YEARS (7/1/13 - 6/30/19)

5.9%

New endowment funds created in FY 2018

616

7.2%

Total endowment funds at end of FY 2018

Net cash flow includes contributions to endowments, endowment fees and spending distributions. Appreciation includes net investment activity and all fees.

FINANCIAL POSITION

UNIVERSITY SUPPORT

(As of 6/30/18, in millions) 30

Cash and investments $229.2 Property $75.4 Receivables and other assets $33.4 Total assets $338.0 Outstanding debt Payables and other liabilities Total liabilities

$19.5 $1.4 $20.9

Net assets

$317.1

Funds transferred to UCF for use, by fiscal year, in millions.

20

$19.2 10

$15.0

FY13

$26.3

$28.0

$22.0

$15.3

FY14

FY15

FY16

FY17

FY18

IGNITE CAMPAIGN PROGRESS (7/1/11 – 11/1/18)

$446,079,656 359,270 97,360 Total gifts and commitments

2018 ANNUAL REPORT TO DONORS U C F F O U N D AT I O N I N C .

Total campaign gifts

Total campaign donors

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VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP (Fiscal Year 2018)

I M PACT

UCF FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS Members of the UCF Foundation Board of Directors give generously of their time, their expertise and their resources to advance the University of Central Florida. The following directors served during fiscal year 2018.

A current board roster may be seen at ucffoundation.org/board-ofdirectors.

Officers Nelson J. Marchioli ’72 Chair John D. Euliano Sr. H’18, EdS Vice Chair Tony Moreno Jr. ’91 Vice Chair Melanie B. Fernandez ’86 ’91MBA Treasurer Ronald C. Thow ’93 Secretary Phyllis A. Klock HC’14 Immediate Past Chair Directors Judith A. Albertson HC’14 Richard O. Baldwin Jr. ’80 Scott M. Buescher Carrie A. Callahan ’92 Loretta Corey H’17 James W. Ferrell ’80 Alan Florez ’98 Douglas E. Gearity, M.D., F.A.C.O.G. Bruce K. Gould Suresh K. Gupta Tracey Henley, PsyD James A. Jahna Sr. ’81 Gideon J. Lewis ’00, P.A. Diane Mahony ’96 ’01MEd ’14EdS Kevin S. Miller Mary Beth Morgan Michael Okaty ’96 Dianne K. Owen ’93 Margery L. Pabst-Steinmetz J. Oscar Rodriguez ’86 Eva Tukdarian ’90 Joyce W. Virga ’98 Richard J. Walsh ’77 ’83MS HC’14 IGNITE CAMPAIGN CABINET Members of the Campaign Cabinet — among UCF’s most dedicated philanthropic leaders — work tirelessly alongside executive leadership to propel the campaign forward.

Richard J. Walsh ’77 ’83MS HC’14 Nelson J. Marchioli ’72 Phyllis A. Klock HC’14 Lawrence J. Chastang ’80 Michael J. Grindstaff ’78 Allen R. Weiss ’76 (honorary member)

Ex-Officio Directors David Albertson H’89 Sara Bernard ’00 Marcos Marchena ’82 John C. Hitt H’17 Directors Emeriti James T. Barnes Jr. R. Van Bogan Phoebe Carpenter Peter Dagostino Alan G. Fickett ’71 Manuel A. Garcia III J. Charles Gray HC’16 Michael J. Grindstaff ’78 Gerald F. Hilbrich Deborah J. Komanski ’79 John F. Lowndes Rita A. Lowndes Michael Manglardi ’84 Gerald R. McGratty ’71 Anthony J. Nicholson HC’17 Richard A. Nunis HC’96 Roger W. Pynn ’73 Allen Trovillion Al R. Weiss ’76 Nelson Ying Thomas Yochum Honorary Director Joan D. Ruffier

UCF ALUMNI BOARD The Alumni Board partners with the Office of Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving, formulating and executing strategies and programs that build a culture of service and philanthropy among UCF’s almost 300,000 alumni. The following members served during fiscal year 2018. A current board roster may be found at ucfalumni.com.

Officers Sara W. Bernard ’00 Chair Daniel R. Ward ’92 Chair-elect Matthew T. Assenmacher ’93 Treasurer Peter F. Cranis ’84 ’88MA Immediate past chair Ronald D. Spangler ’03 Secretary Members Clint P. Bullock ’95 Cristina M. Calvet-Harrold ’01 ’03MBA Dean S. Caravelis ’02 ’03MBA Michael L. Cantrell Patricia Celano ’10MSN Robert L. Clark ’94 Angela L. Cohen ’98 Linh N. Dang ’93 Andre Garcia ’08 ’16MBA, PhD Crystal E. Buit ’06

Allen C. Lane Jr. ’97 Lee M. Odess ’99 Gregory A. Pearlman ’08 Joseph Regenstein ’03 Alberto J. Sarabasa ’85 Kyle B. Simpson ’13 Beth A. Smith ’04 Andrea K. St. Onge ’99 ‘02MA Melissa C. Tomasso ’94 Ryan J. Vescio ’02 Woody M. Walker ’92 ’94MBA Christine B. Wydra ’93 Kevin M. Wydra ’92 Ex-Officio Members Micaela B. Cleere ’18 John C. Hitt H’17 Daniel C. Holsenbeck, PhD Danielle N. Honaker ’06 ’16MA Michael A. Kilbride ’12 Nicholas R. Larkins Nelson J. Marchioli ’72 Michael J. Morsberger Julie C. Stroh

UCF BOARD OF TRUSTEES Members of the UCF Board of Trustees set policy and serve as the university’s legal owner and final authority responsible for efficient and effective use of resources. The following trustees served during fiscal year 2018. A current board roster may be found at bot.ucf.edu.

Marcos R. Marchena ’82 Chairman Robert A. Garvy H’18 Vice Chairman Josh Bologña Kenneth W. Bradley ’85 Clarence H. Brown III, M.D. Joseph D. Conte

Danny Gaekwad John S. Lord Alex Martins ’01 Beverly J. Seay H’18 William Self, PhD John R. Sprouls David M. Walsh William E. Yeargin

U C F F O U N D AT I O N I N C . 2018 ANNUAL REPORT TO DONORS

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NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 4031 ORLANDO, FL

12424 Research Parkway, Suite 250 Orlando, Florida 32826-3208 407-882-1220 UCFFoundation.org

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

UCF Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization

“For public institutions, especially those that are still building like UCF, philanthropy is the margin of excellence,” says UCF President Dale Whittaker. “Support from alumni, business leaders, corporations and foundations allows us to amplify our efforts, to have an even greater impact than we would otherwise.”

IGNITE: THE CAMPAIGN FOR UCF seeks to inspire such philanthropy through an intense, focused and strategic effort to channel our collective energies and resources toward infusing the university with $500 million in mission-critical private support by 2019. “Our students, faculty and community are counting on us,” says IGNITE Campaign Chair Rick Walsh ’77 ’83MS HC’14.

The campaign is focused on three areas: student success, including scholarships, study abroad and career readiness; academic excellence, including recruitment and retention of top faculty members and funding for

breakththrough research; and special growth and opportunity projects such as UCF Downtown, the Academic Health Sciences Center at Lake Nona and innovations in environmental sustainability.

IGNITE offers many opportunities to give. From athletics to the arts, environmental initiatives to endowed professorships, and scholarships to service-learning, donors can create a positive impact at UCF in the ways that are most meaningful to them.

To learn more about the campaign or to make a convenient online gift, please visit igniteucf.org or call 407.882.1220.