Fundraising results in fiscal year ’07 continue to reflect the strategic priorities of the Institute. More than $6.0 million in new commitments supports faculty chairs and constellations to enable Rensselaer to continue to attract and support world-renowned experts in their field; $12.0 million raised this year supports fellowships and scholarships to help the Institute compete for the best and brightest graduate and undergraduate students; and $3.5 million supports undergraduate research projects and innovations in entrepreneurship.

Additionally, this year’s fundraising total included a $514 million in-kind contribution of software from PACE (Partners for the Advancement of Engineering Education), a philanthropic initiative of General Motors, EDS, Sun Microsystems, UGS Corporation. The PACE contribution provides the latest suite of software to enhance the curricula and prepare students for leadership in their fields.

In addition, the campaign has helped increase the endowment from $500 million in 2000 to more than $800 million today. As the campaign moves forward, a primary fundraising and endowment management goal is to help increase the endowment to $1.0 billion or more.

“I am grateful to all of the donors to the campaign for the generosity they have shown,” said President Shirley Ann Jackson. “They see clearly that we are doing what we must to compete with the leading universities for the best faculty and students, and for important research awards, as we continue Rensselaer’s transformation into a top-level research university. One of our chief priorities is to grow the endowment to $1 billion and beyond, so that we will have the resources to provide for our current and future students the educational experience they deserve.”

According to campaign co-chairs Thomas Baruch ’60, Gary DiCamillo ’73, and Paul Severino ’69, the campaign is succeeding because it has remained focused on funding the top priorities of The Rensselaer Plan, which in 2000, and under the visionary leadership of President Jackson, laid the foundation for transforming Rensselaer into a top-tier technological research university with global reach and global impact.

“The success we achieved this year is clear evidence that our alumni and friends are supporting Rensselaer at increasingly higher levels through their philanthropy,” said Donald Fry, vice president for institute advancement. “They see themselves as active participants in a transformation unprecedented in the history of the Institute.”

President Jackson, commenting on the transformation of Rensselaer in her recent State of the Institute address, said, “In the last year, we have made significant strides. Indeed, we are now in a new era at the Institute — achieving beyond our ambitious goals in the Plan.”

Since the start of the campaign, Rensselaer has raised more than $1.240 billion to help support the people, programs, and facilities critical to the implementation of The Rensselaer Plan. The campaign has enabled changes that have:

• Enhanced the student experience to such an extent that the Institute was named one of the “new Ivies” by Newsweek/Kaplan. Campaign contributions have included support for Rensselaer’s award-winning first-year experience program, as well as athletics, leadership, public service, and “communiversity” programs.
• Extended the research enterprise into areas critical to the nation and the world, in biotechnology and the life sciences; nanotechnology, computation and information technology, media and the arts; and energy and the environment. Notable campaign commitments include support for facilities in Rensselaer’s Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies; a fund for the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center to support commissions, performances, and productions; as well as licensing for important software and related equipment for students and faculty;

The campaign has helped increase the endowment
from $500 million in 2000 to more than $800 million today.
As the campaign moves forward, a primary fund-raising goal
is to help increase the endowment to $1.0 billion or more.

• Attracted world-renowned faculty in these critical research disciplines, including 180 new faculty members and support for 27 faculty chairs;
• Increased applications to an all-time high and expanded the number of scholarships and fellowships available to students, including funding for programs to fill the science and engineering pipeline of students from minority and traditionally underrepresented groups;
• Strengthened entrepreneurship across the curriculum, including support for the “Change the World Challenge” which asks students to submit ideas that improve the human condition.

For more about the Renaissance at Rensselaer Campaign, go to www.rpi.edu/campaign/index.html.