Despite an economy that continues to be sluggish, Georgia Tech posted the second best year-to-year philanthropic results in Institute history for Fiscal 2012. Private gift income to the Institute and its associated foundations totaled $118.4 million.
“Georgia Tech alumni and friends have a longstanding tradition of generously supporting the Institute. Given the visionary aspirations articulated in our twenty-five-year strategic plan, private philanthropy is more crucial now than ever before,” said President G. P. “Bud” Peterson. “I am very pleased—but certainly not surprised—to see that our community’s robust philanthropic track record grew even stronger last year.”
Within the $118.4 million total, $5 million was given for unrestricted current operations and $1 million for unrestricted endowment, with the balance for restricted purposes. By use, $56 million was directed to current operations, $27 million for permanent endowment, and $35 million for facilities and equipment. Programmatically, highlights include $42 million designated for the College of Engineering, $15 million for the newly named Scheller College of Business, and $19 million for intercollegiate athletics.
The largest sources of funding were alumni and corporations, providing $46 million and $45 million, respectively, of the total. Alumni participation is anticipated to be among the highest within all public universities nationwide. Current and emeritus trustees of the Georgia Tech Foundation provided $13 million in gifts.
The highlight of the year was the June 2012 announcement of a $50 million gift from 1952 alumnus Ernest Scheller Jr., an unprecedented act in the Institute’s philanthropic history and the catalyst for renaming the College of Management as the Ernest Scheller Jr. College of Business.
The transformational Scheller commitment has already begun to have an impact on the College, adding numerous faculty chairs and professorships, undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, and a dean’s discretionary endowment fund.
Campaign Georgia Tech continued its progress toward its expanded goal of $1.5 billion, crossing the $1 billion mark and keeping pace at an average rate of nearly $3 million per week.
“Despite the uncertainty of the financial markets regionally, nationally, and internationally, philanthropy to the Institute continues strong across all constituencies,” said Vice President for Development Barrett H. Carson. “Facilities construction, endowed faculty chairs and professorships, and endowed undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships remain at the core of philanthropic objectives.”
Philanthropy has also played a major role in the construction and renovation of campus facilities, helping to further Tech’s strategic vision and competitiveness. Examples of facilities in various stages of planning, design, construction, and completion during the year include:
“When Campaign Georgia Tech was publicly launched in 2010, we asked our alumni and friends to step forward and affirm their belief in Georgia Tech’s ability to transform lives through education, research, and service,” said alumnus John F. Brock III, who is co-chairing the $1.5 billion Campaign Georgia Tech with his wife, Mary. “The response to our call to action has been tremendous, making crystal clear just how strong the Tech family’s commitment is to ensuring that our great university continues to thrive in the twenty-first century.”
Ernest Scheller Jr.— pictured with his wife Roberta—has transformed the College of Business with his unprecedented level of philanthropy. ■
