By Jacquie Powers
Cornell faculty and staff members made significant gifts to the university's record-setting capital campaign, according to faculty and staff trustees who were campaign co-chairs.
Faculty and staff gifts, from 1,524 donors, totaled $24.1 million, according to co-chairs Franklin N. Henry Sr., trustee and manager in Campus Life; Joseph M. Calvo, trustee and the William T. Keeton Professor of Biology; and Richard E. Schuler, trustee and professor of economics and of civil and environmental engineering.
Henry, Calvo and Schuler thanked faculty and staff for their gifts and efforts on behalf of the campaign, particularly during tough economic times.
"Campaign gifts from faculty and staff demonstrate an important commitment -- over and above the daily support
given to Cornell through our work," Calvo said.
Included in the total are the faculty and staff gifts result ing from contacts made last summer and fall by Henry, Calvo and Schuler. In addition, several campaign initiatives were managed by individual colleges and units.
In the Johnson Graduate School of Management, more than 80 percent of faculty and 71 percent of staff made gifts, including support for Sage Hall, the school's library, the Ph.D. program and current operating needs.
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' faculty participation rate included 100 percent participation in the entomology department at the Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva.
Most faculty and staff campaign gifts were designated to one of the campaign's five main goals: support for academic programs; student financial aid; support of faculty; funds to
upgrade facilities; and library needs.
A significant portion of the funds raised were designated to the university's $1.75 billion endowment. The endow ment is Cornell's invested capital that generates funds to be used, in perpetuity, to support the university.
The cumulative impact of the endowment gifts is impres sive, the co-chairs said. For example, a $1 million endow ment gift made in 1993 paid out approximately $40,000 in 1994. However, by the year 2003, it will have paid out approximately $500,000 and be valued at $1.83 million, based on 1993 payout rates and appreciation.
The co-chairs said they greatly appreciated the strong support of their colleagues during the campaign.
"We'd like to thank everyone for the many gifts that helped Cornell meet and exceed its campaign goals," Henry said.