It’s a spring full of smiles!

The end of our academic year is a great time to celebrate, and not just for new graduates.

Rising to the challenge, alumni, faculty, staff, parents, and friends have helped us achieve nearly $985 million in impact—felt on campus, in our regional centers, and beyond! Students have been part of our success too, leading the charge during Philanthropy Week and through the Senior Class Giving Campaign. Read why seniors chose to support SU.

While we pause to thank all those who got us here—more than 98% of the way to our $1 billion goal—we’re also pushing forward and carrying the Syracuse impact to new heights!

Former Senator Bill Bradley kicked off the Maxwell School’s inaugural Tanner Lecture Series on Ethics, Citizenship, and Public Responsibility. The series was created through a generous endowment gift from W. Lynn Tanner G’75.

The Verizon Foundation awarded a $100,000 grant to the WISE Women’s Business Center, partnering with the Whitman School’s Southside Innovation Center and Vera House, to launch an entrepreneurship training program for domestic violence survivors.

Paul Leibowitz ’84, a design alumnus from SU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts and owner of the New York City agency Leibowitz Communications, created the Paul Leibowitz Award for Visual Communication and Digital Design.

Take a moment to review some of these recent highlights, and consider the difference we all can make.

Your campaign co-chairs,

Melanie Gray L’81
Howie Phanstiel ’70, G’71
Deryck Palmer ’78

May 22, 2012

The Campaign for Syracuse University

Total as of 4/30/12:
$984,900,843

Importance of Immersion

SU’s campuses offer opportunities for students to live and work in the “real world.” Check out our New York City video snapshot of some incredible student experiences.

A Week of Philanthropy!

April 9-13, 2012, marked SU’s annual Philanthropy Week, celebrating selfless acts of all sizes. See photos, visit our Thank-a-Donor page filled with expressions of gratitude, and check out these videos:

>> 2012 Orange Circle Awards
>> Phanstiel Lecture

Thanking Pathfinders

See photos from SU’s April 29 Pathfinder appreciation event and performance of “As You Like It.”

It’s the foresight of SU Pathfinders like D. Whitney Coe ’59, G’67 that underscores the importance of planned giving. The D. Whitney Coe Graduate Scholarship Endowment received nearly $900,000 from Coe’s realized bequest, supporting iSchool students of Korean descent.

Couple Sets Example for Faculty and Staff Giving

Walter Broadnax G’75 earned his Ph.D. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and always felt connected to the school and its mission. In 2008, the SU trustee emeritus and his wife, Angel, returned to campus, where they accepted positions as SU faculty and staff. Now, their generous gift will preserve their legacy. The Walter D. and Angel W. Broadnax Endowed Scholarship Fund, established through a $1 million bequest, will support Maxwell School graduate students studying public administration.

Young Alums on Opposite Coasts Give Back

They may live on different sides of the country, but Generation Orange alums Lee Goldberg ’06, from New York, and Todd Rubin ’04, from San Francisco, are both creating valuable student experiences. Goldberg co-founded his company, Vector Media Group, while a student at the Whitman School of Management, and recently established the Goldberg Prize for Technology and Innovation to celebrate student entrepreneurship. Students compete for the $2,500 award at Whitman’s annual Panaschi Business Plan Competition. Read more.

Rubin, a School of Architecture graduate, established the Rubin Global Design Studio, which brings a visiting architect to SU to teach a design studio, and takes first-year graduate students to an international city for a week of studying and analyzing architectural design. Students experience the cultural and political conditions that produce a city with quality of public space, public housing, and sustainability policies. In March, the inaugural trip took Rubin and the students to Copenhagen, Denmark. Read more.

SU Trustee Creates New iSchool Summer Ph.D. Fellowships

Believing that “the research from the Ph.D. program is fundamental to what the School of Information Studies (iSchool) is and what it becomes,” Board of Advisors member and SU Trustee Christine Larsen ’84 established the Elizabeth D. Liddy Fellowships in honor of her classmate and the iSchool’s dean. A University Fellow herself, Larsen knows many Ph.D. students are funded only for academic terms and must support themselves over summers. The fellowships will provide four Ph.D. students with $7,000 each, for the next three summers of their program. Read more.

Scholarship Helps Middle Eastern Students at Newhouse

In memory of his grandmother, Rani Raad ’97 established the Mary Raad Endowed Scholarship Fund for undergraduate students at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, with preference to those from the Levant area of the Middle East. The scholarship honors Mary Raad’s legacy and allows students from countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria to experience Newhouse.

Systems Engineering Professor Supported by Chicago Alum

In addition to spearheading Chicago’s regional fundraising effort with a generous challenge gift, SU Trustee David Edelstein ’78 and his wife, Jennie Berkson, gave $1 million in faculty support to the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science. The David G. Edelstein Professor of Practice in Systems Engineering Endowed Fund supports the activities, research, and teaching of a new systems engineering professor. The gift was supplemented by the Faculty Today Challenge program to accelerate SU’s recruitment and retention of world-class faculty.

Several Sources Support Maxwell Faculty Research

SU’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs has received nearly $750,000 in collective gifts and pledges to fund a range of faculty research efforts. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation awarded $500,000 to analyze the relationship between housing affordability and the health care, medical expenditures, living arrangements, and lifestyle decisions made by older Americans. Gary Engelhardt, Melvin A. Eggers Faculty Scholar and professor of economics in Maxwell’s Center for Policy Research, will lead a team of scholars in the study. Read more.

And in honor of the school’s senior associate dean, the Maxwell Advisory Board has created the Michael J. Wasylenko Endowed Faculty Research Fund. Wasylenko is being recognized for his long-time service to Maxwell, particularly his leadership as interim dean in the year prior to the appointment of James B. Steinberg last fall. Gifts and pledges from the board members, faculty, and staff total nearly $250,000. Wasylenko is admired as a strong advocate for the school’s faculty, and the new fund ensures continued support for research and other projects.

Say Yes Partners with Syracuse Businesses for STEM Scholarship Fund

At the second annual “Say Yes Day,” representatives from Say Yes to Education, Syracuse University, the Syracuse City School District, and several Syracuse-based companies celebrated leadership gifts from engineering firms Lockheed Martin and O’Brien & Gere. The gifts support the new Say Yes STEM Endowed Scholarship Fund for students who go on to study STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields at one of more than 100 partner colleges and universities. The fund builds upon both companies’ missions to promote STEM studies in urban education. Total contributions to date exceed $610,000. Read more.

Newhouse School and 360i Partner on Digital Advertising Program

SU’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, and the award-winning digital agency 360i, established the 360i and Newhouse Digital Advertising Alliance. The gift from 360i and its chief executive officer, Bryan Wiener ’92, supports creation of a digital advertising program at the school. Read more.

SOE Grant from Arthur Vining Davis Foundations Prepares Future Teachers

Benjamin Dotger, associate professor of teaching and leadership at SU’s School of Education, received a grant for nearly $200,000 from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, which support private higher and secondary education, religion, health care, and public television. Partnering with SUNY Upstate Medical University, the grant will establish simulated classroom interactions to better prepare future high school teachers for situations they’ll encounter as educators. Read more.

Momentum Builds for Huntington Hall Renovation

SU Trustee Sharon Jacquet ’72 provided a $500,000 gift to name the new commons area planned as part of a major renovation to Huntington Hall, the School of Education’s home. The Sharon H. Jacquet Commons will serve as a beautiful first-floor gathering place for students, faculty, parents, alumni, and guests. “Being a part of the transformative Huntington Hall building project has been a delight,” says Jacquet, a SOE alumna. “I'm glad to help open our School of Education to everyone, creating a new beacon on the hill.”

Other renovations include a dramatic, fully accessible entrance on Marshall Street, and a conference hall for the school’s renowned lecture series, “Landscape of Urban Education.” Learn about Huntington Hall.

College of Law Names Dineen Hall Space in Honor of 1948 Alum

On May 10, 2012, the College of Law broke ground on Dineen Hall, its future home. The Dineen family gave a $15 million naming gift to SU in honor of their parents, Robert Emmet Dineen L’24, H’66, and Carolyn Bareham Dineen L’32. Many of Dineen Hall’s inaugural donors attended the groundbreaking, and when the building opens in the fall of 2014, a “Celebratory Space” will be named in memory of David Levy ’41, L’48. Levy passed away last year, leaving his beloved college a bequest gift of $3 million in unrestricted funds. The celebratory space will pay tribute to Levy’s wonderful spirit and passion for life. Read about the groundbreaking.

Mowers Build New Bridge for Bird Library

Eric Mower ’66, G’68 and Judith Mower ’66, G’73, G’80, G’84 are longtime supporters of Syracuse University and the SU Library. They recently pledged a generous gift to restore and name the original Bird Library Bridge, which will again provide easy access to the campus as a symbol of openness.

The Mowers received the 2012 Orange Circle Award for their longstanding philanthropic contributions to SU and the surrounding community. Watch the video.