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WSU Campaign

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Because the World Needs Big Ideas

…your support was the biggest idea of all.

A Big Thank You!

We did it! In its 125th year, Washington State University celebrates the success of WSU’s largest fundraising effort to date—the $1 billion Campaign for Washington State University: Because the World Needs Big Ideas.

Fueled by these achievements and the shared vision and support of its faculty, staff, students, alumni, and industry partners, WSU is poised today to redefine what it means to be a land-grant research university tomorrow and the next 125 years look brighter than ever.

To everyone who contributed, thank you for empowering big ideas and for inspiring tomorrow’s Washington State University.

Total raised during The Campaign for WSU

$1.065 billion

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  • Students $338 million
  • Faculty & Research $383 million
  • Programs & Facilities $344 million
  • TOTAL: $1.065 billion
206,259Generous Donors
819,149Total Gifts, Grants & Other Contributions
3,358WSU areas supported statewide
645Endowed Funds Created
44.63%Alumni Participation Rate During The Campaign for WSU

A Big Challenge

Begun July 1, 2006 and successfully completed June 30, 2015, The Campaign for Washington State University is the largest comprehensive capital campaign in WSU history. The goals were simple—to raise awareness and support for WSU’s top priorities; to improve access to higher education for Washington citizens; to advance education, research, and service; and to help secure WSU’s place as a leading land-grant university.

Ambitious? Absolutely, but the Cougar Nation stepped up to meet the challenge head on. More than 206,000 donors sent a powerful message that Washingtonians care about Washington State University and its mission to create a brighter future.

Because the World Needs Big Ideas…

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Big Opportunities for Students

Among WSU’s most important contributions is education. Our students come from diverse perspectives, ethnicities, ages, and backgrounds, but all share the warmth and support of the WSU experience. Your support for scholarships and fellowships during the campaign created thousands of opportunities for students to learn, grow, and flourish at WSU.

$338 millionFor WSU Students
444Student scholarship & fellowship endowments created
  • Selena Alvarado

    Future journalist Selena Alvarado is participating in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication Backpack Journalism program. The Backpack Journalism program enlists smart, dedicated and curious student-journalists to travel into some of the world’s most remote regions to report on stories that matter. As a backpack journalist, students are outfitted with—and trained in the use of—the latest video, audio and web technology. They’re sent either solo or in teams of two into the field to create television, radio, web, and print news reports which are disseminated to broadcast and print organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest.

    The Murrow College Backpack Journalism program is made possible thanks to the generous support of the DJ Wilson Innovation fund, the Kay Wight Exemplary Leadership fund, the Samuel Eskenazi Excellence fund, the Robert Mott Award, and through Howard S. Wright III’s generous support of the Hearts in Motion program.

  • Machado Mijiga

    Future educator – and current performer – Machado Mijiga won a research grant from the WSU School of Music. He used his funding to record an album’s worth of his original music. Working with faculty and his student colleagues, Machado also benefited from WSU’s state-of-the-art digital recording studio.

    Machado’s project was funded by numerous donations to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Excellence Fund.

  • Jake Blaylock

    Combine a love of food and a passion for science and you’ve described key motivators for Jake Blaylock. And what’s not to love about the Food Science program at WSU? You get to eat your experiments and prepare for a career in an expanding industry.

    Jake’s education was funded by the contributions made to the WSU Creamery Scholarship fund. Creamery scholarships are funded by everyone who ever bought a can of Cougar Gold or other cheese or Ferdinand’s ice cream.

Big Investments for Faculty & Research

If students are the lifeblood of a university, then faculty are its heart. WSU’s outstanding faculty are teachers, investigators, innovators, and problem solvers for some of the most complex issues that we face every day. Your investment in WSU’s talented faculty and their research positions WSU firmly on the cutting-edge of discovery.

$383 millionFor Faculty & Research
62Faculty research and support endowments created
  • Global Animal Health

    Prof. Guy Palmer is Washington State University’s senior director of global health and former director of the WSU Paul G. Allen School of Global Animal Health. The Allen School advances science, people, and policy to discover novel approaches for disease intervention and delivery of preventive health care for animals and humans. Learn more at globalhealth.wsu.edu.The Allen School was funded in part by generous gifts from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

  • Smart Power Grid Research

    In partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, WSU leads the nation’s efforts to increase the reliability and efficiency of the electric power grid. WSU scholars innovate new technologies to advance power grid operation and control, dependability, and security. They seek ways to automate power distribution, integrate renewably generated power, and prevent blackouts. Faculty experts like Anjan Bose, National Academy Member and senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Energy, and Chen-Ching Liu, are working to develop a software platform for testing the “Smart Grid”: the computer-automated network that distributes electricity nationwide.

    Support for Bose, Liu, and their many undergraduate and graduate students comes in part from a generous gift from Avista.

  • The Center for Entrepreneurial Studies

    Marie Mayes, clinical professor of Management and Director of Entrepreneurship at WSU directs the WSU Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. The Center for Entrepreneurial Studies in the Carson College of Business enables students to learn the hands-on skills and teamwork necessary to go from creating a prototype to developing a business plan to ultimately launching a commercially viable product and business. Students learn by doing–building analytical and leadership skills so that they’re ready for success in existing companies and new ventures alike.

    Entrepreneurship is the recognition, creation, evaluation, and pursuit of opportunities for individual and social gains through the application of creativity and the securing of resources. The entrepreneurship major at WSU is not just for students who want to start a business. The major will help develop a broader mindset about innovation, risk-taking, and action that is valuable to students who work in existing companies, non-profits, and new commercial or social ventures.

    WSU’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies is funded by generous gifts from the Boeing Corporation, the Harold Frank Fellowship, the James Huber Memorial Entrepreneur Scholarship, the James D. Huber Chair in Entrepreneurship, the William “Chip” Treverton, Jr. Endowed Scholarship, the Don and Mary Ann Parachini Distinguished Professorship in Entrepreneurship, the Parachini Fund for Excellence in Entrepreneurship, the Don and Mary Ann Parachini Scholarship in Entrepreneurship, the Castles Excellence Fund in Entrepreneurship, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Initiative Excellence Fund, the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Excellence Fund, and the Rom J. Markin Entrepreneurship Scholarship.

Big Impacts for Programs & Facilities

Beyond our classrooms and labs, opportunities that strengthen the mind as well as the body are a hallmark of the WSU experience. And as opportunities grow on each of WSU’s campuses and at locations throughout the state, so too does the need to create the modern spaces where learning, discovery, and collaboration will thrive.

Your generous support during the campaign fueled the unique activities that make WSU a truly special experience and enabled the construction and renovation of state-of-the-art facilities where those activities can happen.

$344 millionFor Programs & Facilities
135Program & Facility endowments created
  • Cougar Athletics

    To be competitive in the Conference of Champions requires considerable ongoing investment in facilities, programs, and student-athletes. During The Campaign for Washington State University, generous alumni and friends answered the call, contributing more than $85 million in private support for Cougar Athletic programs and facilities.

    Renovated facilities, including Martin Stadium and Cougar Baseball’s Bailey-Brayton Field, and new facilities, like the Football Operations Building and Palouse Ridge Golf Course, were made possible in part through generous gifts from Cougar Nation during the Campaign. The impact of private support on Cougar Athletics goes beyond facilities. Each year, hundreds of student-athletes benefit from scholarships made possible by WSU donors. Still more contribution were made to purchase equipment, update facilities, and help fund academic and support programs that benefit every varsity athlete at WSU.

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  • Ste. Michelle Wine Estates WSU Wine Science Center

    It has been said that every great wine region in the world has a center for education, research and outreach associated with it. Now, thanks to the private support of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and a $7.4 million commitment from the state’s growers and winemakers through the Washington State Wine Commission during The Campaign for WSU, Washington’s wine industry has one of the most technologically advanced wine science centers in the world to call its own.

    The new teaching and research facility located on the WSU Tri-Cities campus features research laboratories and classrooms, a research and teaching winery, a two-acre vineyard, and greenhouses to train technical personnel to support Washington’s expanding wine industry—the nation’s second largest premium wine producer in the United States. It includes meeting and event space with a large atrium, Washington wine library and conference rooms. Industry members, students and researchers from around the globe will be able to use the center as a gathering place to spark innovation, fuel economic development and support local, regional, national and international collaboration and provide a catalyst for research breakthroughs.

  • Frank Innovation Zone

    With support during The Campaign for WSU from the Raintree Foundation established by Harold R. Frank in 1993, a new Frank Innovation Zone has been established at WSU to foster the development of entrepreneurial skills in more students and provide them with access to a wide range of hands-on learning experiences.

    A part of the Harold Frank Engineering Entrepreneurship Institute—which is operated cooperatively between the Carson College of Business and the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture since 2004—the Frank Innovation Zone provides a centrally-located, multidisciplinary, collaborative space and tools where WSU students can translate their ideas into working designs build class projects, or pursue club activities. Located on the ground floor of Dana Hall on WSU’s Pullman campus, the area includes fabrication tools, testing and measurement equipment, storage areas, supply store, club and collaborative meeting spaces, and a supervised “makerspace” with supportive technology for creative innovation.

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  • WSU Organic Farm

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    Washington State University is a leader for research, teaching and extension in organic and sustainable agriculture thanks to investments made by alumni Chuck and Louanna Eggert. Their family’s commitment expanded the WSU Organic Farm on its Pullman campus from four acres to nearly 30 acres, creating the largest organic teaching farm on a university campus in the United States.

    “This is a game changer for the program,” said John Reganold, WSU Regents Professor of Soil Sciences and Agroecology who leads the university’s organic agriculture major. “This investment by the Eggert family sets the stage for WSU to lead not only the nation, but the world in the field of organic agriculture.”

A Big Difference WSU-Wide

With private support designated to 3,358 different projects, initiatives, priorities, and funding areas, virtually every corner of WSU benefits from the investments made during The Campaign for WSU. And for every investment, the citizens, industries, and communities across our state benefit, too.

Twenty areas of fundraising focus were generously supported. In addition to the colleges, campuses, and units listed below, $44 million was raised to support university initiatives.

Campaign Totals

$252 millionCollege of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences
$66 millionArts & Sciences
$76 millionCarson College of Business
$44 millionEdward R. Murrow College of Communication & Murrow Public Media
$21 millionEducation
$130 millionVoiland College of Engineering & Architecture
$5 million Honors
$17 millionNursing
$19 millionPharmacy
$145 millionVeterinary Medicine
$14 millionHealth Sciences at WSU Spokane
$30 millionWSU Tri-Cities
$21 millionWSU Vancouver
$97 millionCougar Athletics
$5 millionGraduate School
$21 millionInternational Programs
$9 millionLibraries at WSU
$16 millionMuseum of Art
$35 millionStudent Affairs & General Scholarships
$3 millionUndergraduate Education