Education

Chan, Zuckerberg Philanthropy Taps UMass Amherst to Create AI Scientific Research Tool
January 19, 2018 at 12:40 pm

A philanthropy started by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan has awarded a $5.5 million grant to the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Center for Data Science to create a free tool that would make millions of published scientific and medical findings easily accessible to researchers worldwide. The project, called Computable Knowledge, would…

Jeff Bezos Donates $33M to Scholarship Fund for ‘Dreamers’
January 18, 2018 at 1:16 pm

Jeffrey P. Bezos, founder of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, announced that he is donating $33 million to a scholarship fund for young “dreamers,” immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. The donation from the world’s wealthiest person comes amid fresh pressure from business leaders as talks on Capitol Hill over how…

Graduate Education Is Your Catalyst for Career Growth
January 12, 2018 at 11:49 am

Each year, many young professionals contact me through a variety of ways. In late 2017, several contacted me through coffee sessions, job interviews, visits at special events, AFP lunches, CFRE interactions, contacts as a favor from a colleague, etc. These individuals are either in the nonprofit field or deciding whether to pursue a nonprofit career...

The Importance of a Caring Professor/Faculty Advisor
January 5, 2018 at 12:20 pm

On Christmas Eve 2017, I was driving on Interstate 64 near Charleston, West Va., when I passed the Dunbar exit. At that moment, I mentioned to my wife the impact of my former professor and how that individual affected me academically like no other in my life. She knew every time I would pass that exit, I would say the same thing. I told her I had recently sent a Christmas card like I always do to Dr. Jack Yeager. Dr. Yeager’s influence on me was profound...

UD Launches $750M Fundraising Campaign
November 10, 2017 at 11:04 am

The University of Delaware is embarking on an ambitious $750 million capital campaign, university officials announced Thursday. The fundraising effort will go toward a variety of projects, including the recently created Biden Institute, additions to the STAR Campus and long-awaited upgrades to Delaware Stadium. "This campaign is about a comprehensive and bold vision for the…

Craig H. Neilsen Foundation Donates $47.5M for New Rehab Hospital
November 8, 2017 at 12:00 pm

The Craig H. Neilsen Foundation will donate $47.5 million for a new, state-of-the-art rehabilitation hospital as part of the redevelopment and modernization of the University of Utah’s health sciences campus. The 75-bed hospital, to be named the Craig H. Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital, will be one of the most advanced rehabilitation facilities in the nation and…

Friend of Caltech Makes Landmark Gift to Build a Better World
November 6, 2017 at 12:01 pm

“You ought to leave the world better than you found it,” engineer Allen Davis was known to say. And he did: Davis, who passed away at age 91 in 2015, left more than $60 million from his estate to Caltech. Aiming to advance science and education for the benefit of humankind, Davis  directed his bequest to…

Ken Griffin Gives $125M to University of Chicago
November 1, 2017 at 10:51 am

A flood of money is pouring into the state’s top schools as the University of Chicago and University of Illinois have landed some of their largest-ever single donations within a week of each other. Ken Griffin, the richest man in Illinois, committed $125 million to U. of C.’s economics department, university leaders will announce Wednesday. It…

U of I College of Business Receives $150M Naming Gift
October 30, 2017 at 11:51 am

The College of Business at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will be known as the Gies College of Business after an unprecedented investment from a distinguished alumnus. The gift, announced today, will accelerate progress toward being recognized as the best and most innovative business school in the nation. This monumental gift comes from Chicago…

Couple Donate $150M to University of Illinois
October 27, 2017 at 11:57 am

The University of Illinois has received its largest-ever donation—a $150 million gift—from the head of a Chicago private equity firm, school officials announced Thursday. The gift from Larry Gies, chief executive of Madison Industries, and his wife, Beth, means the university’s business school at the Urbana-Champaign campus will now be known as the Gies College…