PRIVATE GIFT SUPPORT TO UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS REACHES ALL-TIME HIGH: $85.2 MILLION

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Private gift support to the University of Arkansas for 1998-99 reached an all-time high of $85.2 million, increasing 203 percent over the $28.1 million raised the previous year.

The total includes funds actually received during the last year and does not include pledges.

"This has been a spectacular year for fund-raising, made all the more so by the extreme generosity of the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation with its $50 million to the Sam M. Walton College of Business Administration," said UA Chancellor John A. White.

The Walton Family gift, made last October, was the largest gift in the history of Arkansas higher education. It also was the largest gift ever made to an American business college and now ranks as one of the 40 largest gifts to American higher education since such record-keeping began in 1967.

"While we are especially grateful to the Walton Family, we are equally thankful to the tens of thousands of alumni, friends, corporations, foundations, and other organizations that made private gifts to the University this past year," White added. "Building on state funds, their support is providing the means for the U of A to emerge as a nationally competitive research university that will serve as an economic and cultural engine for our state."

Curtis Shipley, chairman of the National Development Council (the U of A's top volunteer fundraising group), added that "This is our best year ever, and we are grateful to the leadership of John White, our volunteers, deans, staff and others who have made this possible. The fundraising this year will have significant impact on the University, both in terms of creating new academic opportunities immediately and in moving our fundraising program to the next level."

There were 29,082 gifts made to the University in 1998-99, slightly under the record 29,663 gifts received the previous year. The reason for the numerical decrease was that the grassroots fundraising campaign for the new Janelle Y. Hembree Alumni House ended this year. The Alumni House attracted 6,411 gifts this past year, compared to 7,619 gifts the previous year when the campaign was in full sway.

Of the 29,082 gifts, 93 percent came from individual alumni and friends, while seven percent came from corporations and foundations.

G. David Gearhart, who last month completed his first year as vice chancellor for University Advancement, noted that underlying fund-raising patterns at the University are encouraging.

"The funds remaining beyond the Walton Family gift amount to $35.2 million ¾ a 25 percent increase over the previous year's totals," Gearhart said.

Of the $85.2 million raised last year, $55.5 million or 65 percent of the total was designated by donors for the University's endowment. Endowment acts like a permanent savings account to provide a perpetual source of income for such purposes as student scholarships, faculty chairs, and academic programs.

"The rapid growth of our endowment is key to realizing our goals for the University, particularly in our ability to attract and retain highly talented students and faculty," White said.

The University's previous best fund-raising year was 1993-1994, when $43.5 million was raised. Of that total, $18 million came from a gift from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to establish a center for Middle East studies.

Among the other private gift support highlights that were announced this year, including multi-year pledge commitments, were:

-- $2.9 million raised for new Chancellor's Scholarships, a program designed to attract the most talented Arkansas high school students to the University. The $2.9 million includes monies actually received and excludes pledges.

-- Eight new endowed faculty chairs. These includes the Steven L. Anderson Chair in Architecture and Urban Studies funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation; the E. Fay Jones Chair in Architecture funded by Don and Ellen Edmondson of Forrest City; the S. Robson Walton Chair in Accounting and the David D. Glass Chair in Computer Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis, both made possible by the Walton Family gift; and four yet-to-be-named chairs in the Sam M. Walton College of Business Administration, also made possible by the Walton Family gift. In addition, the School of Law attracted two endowed professorships.

-- A $2 million gift for student scholarships from Julian and Nana Stewart of San Antonio, Texas.

-- A $2.4 million gift to the Chancellor’s Scholarship program from Kenneth Pat Wilson and Ruth Wilson of Jacksonville, Ark.

-- A $4 million gift of software to the College of Engineering from Cadence Design Systems.

-- A $1.4 million gift of software to the College of Engineering from Quickturn Systems.

-- A $610,000 gift from the estate of the late Dr. Clarence J. Rosecrans for endowed scholarships.

Gifts to the major academic units were designated by benefactors as follows:

- Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: $300,563, and the Division of Agriculture: $5,124,423

- College of Education and Health Professions: $951,262

- College of Engineering: $7,685,928

- J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Science: $1,245,578

- Sam M. Walton College of Business Administration: $54,824,822

- School of Architecture: $2,145,828

- School of Law: $2,213,909

- Mullins Library: $606,892

Gifts to other units:

- Alumni Association: $1,251,314

- Men's Athletics: $2,451,129

- Chancellor's Scholarship: $2,889,754

- KUAF Public Radio: $503,908

- University Museum: $39,778

- Non-Designated Scholarships and Financial Aid: $1,521,983

- Student Affairs: $142,660

- University of Arkansas Press: $258,475

- Unrestricted Gifts: $562,431

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