MAJOR GIFTS
00000030In addition to our exceptional Class Gift Fund projects, individual support of Cornell has been impressive.
1987, as part of our 25th Reunion Campaign, the Class raised over $5.5 million from 738 classmates. At the time, it represented a new Cornell and national record for the most money ever raised by a single class. In 1997, we set a Cornell 35th Reunion Campaign record for dollars raised with $17,493,607, which still stands at Cornell. In 2012, for our 50th Reunion, we topped that number by more than $2 million. For the year ending June 2020, we raised $7,650,200. The news gets even better. In 2022, for our 60th Reunion, we raised $40,799,884, from 375 donors including 50 Tower Club members. Not only did we beat our goal for the year, but we also achieved a class best and set a new fundraising record for all 60th reunions at Cornell!!
Additionally, classmates also have made several major gifts, both private and public. Public gifts include the funding of buildings, classrooms, auditoriums, and learning centers. Private gifts have included sponsorship/endowments of professorships, scholarships, art works and collections at the Johnson Museum of Art and the Cornell libraries. Twenty-three members of the class have established scholarships; nine members of the class have established program or position endowments. Incredibly, the Class’s lifetime giving to the university is in excess of $300,000,000!!!
And, while we are patting ourselves on the back, here’s a shout-out to our classmates whose extraordinary major gifts have been particularly notable and highly visible. Hats off!
Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering
A generous endowment from Nancy E. Schlegel Meinig ’62 and Peter C. Meinig ‘61 and their family to the Department of Biomedical Engineering resulted in the expansion and elevation of the BME program. Renamed as the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, the expanded BME program is the centerpiece of Cornell Engineering’s strategic push to advance the wider multi-disciplinary field of bioengineering, which impacts the university broadly, from Engineering and the College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca to Weill Cornell Medical College and Cornell Tech in New York City
The Samuel C. Fleming Molecular Engineering Lab
A gift of classmate Sam and his wife Nancy, this suite of state-of-the-art molecular engineering laboratories is being constructed inside Olin Hall. Comprising 7,300 square feet of new laboratory space on the second and third floors of Olin Hall’s north wing, the space will be used for research on drug design, drug delivery, biomedical diagnostics and the discovery of new materials. (Photo: Cornell Engineering)
The Fleming Lecture Hall
In 2008, the Flemings made one of the first private gifts to Weill Hall to name a lecture hall, The Fleming Lecture Hall, a gift that was in addition to providing significant endowment support for the Weill Institute and new graduate fellowships in chemical and biomolecular engineering. (Photo: Judith Prenske Rich)
Mui Ho ’62 Fine Arts Library
A state-of-the-art facility on the top two floors of Rand Hall with massed stacks of books as its centerpiece, digital resources, and voluminous reading and study space. Along with 8,000 square feet of shop space for the College of Architecture, Art and Planning occupying the first floor, the 107-year-old industrial building has been entirely rehabilitated. (Photo: Jason Koski)
The Fuller Learning Center
The two-story structure — a gift of H. Laurence Fuller ‘60 and Nancy Lawrence Fuller ’62 — serves as the educational and outreach focal of Weill Hall, the Life Sciences Technology Building. (Photo: UREL)
Duffield Hall
Duffield Hall, named for David Duffield ‘62 EE, is one of the country’s most sophisticated research and teaching facilities for nanoscale science and engineering. It supports research and instruction in electronic and photonic devices, microelectromechanical devices, advanced materials processing, and biotechnology devices. (Photo: Nicola Kountoupes)
Young Teleconference Center
A gift of Phillip and Nancy Halsey Young, both ‘62, the teleconference center, located in the Fuller Learning Center/Weill Hall, provides audio-visual, video conferencing, and other communications technologies. (Photo: Judith Prenske Rich)
