ENDOWMENT REPORT
July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025
REAL RESULTS, POWERED BY YOUR INVESTMENT
Thanks to your investment in UNCW’s endowment, the 2024–2025 academic year was one of the most remarkable in our university’s history. Your generosity is not only shaping lives today, also builds a legacy of opportunity for generations to come.
UNCW raised more than $53 million to advance student success, faculty excellence and regional innovation — our most successful fundraising year ever. A transformational $25 million gift from Dr. Yousry Sayed and his wife, Linda ’78, ’85M, will strengthen teacher education and expand healthcare access across southeastern North Carolina. Inspired by donors like you who believe in higher education’s power to transform lives, the Sayed family continues to invest in a future filled with opportunity.
Your support helped fund more than 700 donor-supported scholarships, many awarded to first-generation college students. These scholarships open doors, remove barriers and create pathways to success. As our student body grows — now nearly 20,000 strong — we are expanding access through merit-based aid for students with financial need.
Endowed gifts also fund applied learning awards, connecting students to internships, undergraduate research, study abroad and service-learning experiences. These real-world opportunities build confidence, sharpen skills and prepare Seahawks for life after graduation.
The results speak for themselves: 89% of UNCW graduates are employed full-time or enrolled in graduate school full-time.
Your investment sparks confidence beyond our campus. By supporting UNCW’s programs of distinction — from Maritime Cybersecurity to Brain Health and Aging — you lay the groundwork for innovation. Last year, UNCW secured over $19 million in research funding as external partners recognized the momentum created by your generosity and chose to amplify it.
The impact is far reaching. UNCW now drives $3.2 billion in annual economic activity in North Carolina — proof that your support is not only generous, but visionary.
Beyond financial impact, your investment fuels the Seahawk spirit. With five CAA championship titles this past year and a network of more than 111,000 alumni, the university community continues to grow in pride, purpose and reach. This momentum — on the field, in the classroom and across the globe is made possible by strong investment performance, helping ensure the university’s legacy thrives for generations to come.
Thank you for believing in UNCW. We are proud to highlight the power of your investment and honored to have you as part of the Seahawk community.
Eddie Stuart ’05M Vice Chancellor for University Advancement
THE UNCW ENDOWMENT
The University of North Carolina Wilmington and the UNCW Foundation Inc. depend on endowment gifts to ensure UNCW’s students, faculty and programs will thrive in perpetuity. An endowment is a long-term investment that creates financial stability, allowing the university to plan using dependable and predictable sources of revenue. Moreover, an endowed gift offers donors an opportunity to connect a family name or loved one to an area of UNCW in which they have a special interest. Endowment donors may make gifts to either an unrestricted endowment, which provides support for programs at the university’s discretion, or they may establish an agreement for a restricted endowment, which supports a specific purpose such as a scholarship, professorship, athletic or academic program.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
As of June 30, 2025 2024-25 2023-24
This Annual Endowment Report provides an overview of what the endowment portfolio does for the university and serves as a financial summary of its investment and distribution activities for the past year. A separate statement detailing information on a donor’s particular endowment(s) may also be enclosed. Additional information about UNCW’s endowment, including frequently asked questions and definition of terms, can be found at www.uncw.edu/endowmentreport.
A LEGACY OF PERSEVERANCE
Tony Ritchie ’94 made his first gift to his alma mater with a $20 contribution to the Seahawk Club. Over the years, he continued to give modestly while caring for his aging mother, who faced cognitive challenges—often at the expense of his own well-being.
Following the passing of his father, Tony drew on the discipline and resilience he developed as a member of the UNCW Track team to reclaim his health. Inspired to give back, he took a bold step forward. Last year, he established two endowed scholarships to support student-athletes in track and field and committed a planned gift to ensure the program thrives for generations to come.
The Endowment Fund continues to perform ahead of peer institutions and meet our primary objectives to include:
• Maintaining the inflation-adjusted purchasing power after costs and spending
• Providing a stable source of liquidity and financial support for the university’s mission
• Diversifying the fund’s exposure to all asset classes by hiring external managers
A LASTING LEGACY
Brian Pearson King was a senior Communication Studies major at UNCW when he passed away from an illness in March 2001. Known for his charisma, compassion, and love of music, Brian aspired to a career in television production—an ambition sparked by his standout performance as a weatherman in a high school play.
Moved by his spirit and potential, his parents, Billy and Linda King, established the Brian Pearson King Memorial Scholarship Endowment in 2003. For more than two decades, this scholarship has supported aspiring communication professionals, keeping Brian’s memory alive through the dreams of students who follow in his footsteps. The Kings have lovingly preserved thank you letters from scholarship recipients, each one a reflection of Brian’s enduring impact.
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT AND ASSET
POOL ALLOCATION
The Endowment Fund is governed by a nine-member, university-appointed board whose primary role is to oversee the allocation of the Endowment Fund’s portfolio among asset classes and investment vehicles and to monitor performance.
UNCW utilizes the management services of UNC Management Company (www.uncmc.unc.edu) for substantially all of its assets. The fund is subject to the UNC Policy for Endowment established by the UNC Board of Governors and is subject to an annual review by State of North Carolina auditors.
A unitized endowment pool allows multiple endowments to invest in the same pool of assets and has mechanics similar to that of a mutual fund.
SPENDING POLICY AND DISTRIBUTION
DISTRIBUTIONS TO UNCW BY SPENDING PURPOSE
Annually, the Endowment Board and the Investment Committee of the UNCW Foundation Board review the spending policy payout for the upcoming fiscal year (July 1 through June 30). These boards have approved a 4.5 percent annual spending rate since Fiscal Year 2013.
Spending rates for individually named endowment funds are determined by calculating 4.5 percent of the pool’s average market value at June 30 for the previous three years. That value is then divided by the pool’s total units. This spending rate per unit is then applied to the ending units of each fund and serves as the next fiscal year’s distribution.
ENDOWED SUPPORT FOR
EXPERIENTIAL
LEARNING
Students within the environmental sciences department explore the physical, chemical and biological forces that shape our planet’s ecosystems. Through immersive, hands-on experiences, students work closely with faculty — both in and beyond the classroom — to understand, formulate and solve real-world environmental challenges.
From monitoring turtles in campus ponds and observing controlled burns on campus, to tending beehives and studying the ecosystem surrounding the USS North Carolina Battleship, students engage directly with the natural world. To ensure these applied learning opportunities continue, faculty emeritus John Taggart endowed an award that supports students as they tackle complex environmental problems.
