Advance Fund raises more than $610 million
Princeton NJ — When the Aspire campaign was launched on Nov. 9 it already had raised more than $610 million in gifts during the campaign’s “quiet phase,” which began on July 1, 2005. This Advance Fund is composed of the contributions of alumni and friends who supported a wide variety of initiatives. What follows is a sampling of gifts announced publicly during this period.
November 2005: Amount not announced — The class of 1981 gives a dormitory for Whitman College.
January 2006: $101 million from Peter B. Lewis ’55 is announced to support a major new initiative in the creative and performing arts.
February 2006: $2 million in endowment is provided by donors to the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs’ Scholars in the Nation’s Service fellowship program. The endowment is composed of gifts from Andrea E. Bernstein ’80 and Tom A. Bernstein; Martha A. Darling *70 and Gilbert S. Omenn ’61; and Frederick P. Hitz ’61.
Donor William C. Powers (second from left) was joined at the Nov. 10 dedication of Powers Field by (from left) his brother David, President Tilghman and Director of Athletics Gary Walters.
Spring 2006: $16 million worth of rare books, children’s games, drawings and other materials are given to the Cotsen Children’s Library by Trustee Emeritus Lloyd E. Cotsen ’50.
June 2006: Amount not announced — The Fisher family of San Francisco — Doris Feigenbaum Fisher and Donald G. Fisher; Elizabeth S. and Robert J. Fisher ’76; Sakurako D. and William S. Fisher ’79; and Laura M. and John J. Fisher ’83 — funds a new dormitory and three classrooms in Whitman College.
Summer 2006: Amount not announced — The Lapidus Family Fund for Jewish Studies is established by Ruth and Stanley Lapidus ’59 to develop new courses and invite speakers to campus, among other curricular enhancements.
October 2006: $1.3 million from a group of alumni and friends of swimming and diving is given to renovate the lobby, concourse and locker rooms at DeNunzio Pool. Major support for the renovation comes from William N. Vaughan ’42 and Jean A. and Ralph D. DeNunzio ’53.
November 2006: $10 million from William C. Powers ’79 goes to support Princeton’s football program, the largest gift ever to Princeton athletics. The gift funds a new, state-of-the-art playing surface for the stadium field and the renovation of the two practice fields east of Princeton Stadium, and creates two endowments for the benefit of Princeton athletics.
December 2006: Amount not announced — John Harrison Streicker ’64 donates funds to build a pedestrian bridge across Washington Road to link the University’s planned “science neighborhood.”
March 2007: Amount not announced — Robert H. Niehaus ’77 and his wife, Kate Southworth Niehaus, endow the Woodrow Wilson School’s research and teaching center focusing on issues of globalization. The center is renamed the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance. The gift also funds a new global policy task force initiative and the creation of an interdepartmental fellowship program.
April 2007: $5 million from Kathryn Wasserman Davis and her son, Trustee Shelby M.C. Davis ’58, is given to create an endowment for the Princeton International Center, which is renamed the Kathryn W. and Shelby Cullom Davis ’30 International Center in honor of Mrs. Davis and her late husband.
May 2007: $1 million, along with an additional challenge grant of $750,000, is pledged anonymously for a new endowed museum curatorship in honor of John Wilmerding, the Christopher Binyon Sarofim ’86 Professor in American Art Emeritus.
June 2007: $30 million from former Trustee James S. McDonnell III ’58, John F. McDonnell ’60 *62 and the JSM Charitable Trust is given to create the McDonnell Center for Systems Neuroscience.
August 2007: $8.4 million from a group of alumni and friends of soccer is donated to build a new soccer stadium, to be named Roberts Stadium in honor of lead donors Thomas S. Roberts ’85 and his wife, Kristen. Major support for the stadium also comes from Andrea and John H. Laporte Jr. ’67; their challenge pledge results in $2 million in new gifts to the effort. A new playing field is named in memory of Robert Hauter Myslik ’90, who died in an automobile accident in 2003; the Myslik family plays a key role by both making generous gifts to the effort and inspiring others to support the project.
