http://president.tufts.edu/

http://advancement.tufts.edu/ways_to_give/ase_fund.html

Tufts University - Index

Tufts University - Beyond Boundaries Newsletter Spring 2008 - Index

The Newsletter for Beyond Boundaries:
The Campaign for Tufts
Vol. 1, No. 2 • Spring 2008
Chair, Board of Trustees
James A. Stern, E72, A07P
President
Lawrence S. Bacow, Ph.D.
Provost
Jamshed J. Bharucha, Ph.D.
University Advancement
Tufts University
80 George Street
Medford, MA 02155
617-627-3200
giving@tufts.edu
A$10 million gift from Susan and
Richard Smith, J82P, will give Tufts’
president new opportunities to
invest in top university priorities.
“I am deeply grateful for this extraordinary
vote of confidence in the university’s direction
and future,” President Lawrence S. Bacow
says of the establishment of the Richard A.
and Susan F. Smith Presidential Initiatives
Fund.
“This gift is so valuable because it gives
us flexibility to invest in areas of greatest
need, as well as in creative opportunities yet
to emerge,” Bacow says. “It is a remarkable
example of philanthropy.”
Under the terms of the gift, the fund
is to be used, at the president’s discretion,
to support strategic initiatives that advance
Tufts’ academic mission. A matching provision
requires any expenditure to be matched,
dollar for dollar, from university resources or
News of the Campaign for Tufts Spring 2008
Smith Fund Empowers Presidential
Support for Strategic Initiatives
“Unrestricted
resources
are critical in
allowing Tufts
to make strategic
investments in its
academic priorities.”
— Lawrence S. Bacow
Campaign Chairs
Pamela K. Omidyar, J89
Pierre M. Omidyar, A88
Alan D. Solomont, A70, A08P
Jonathan M. Tisch, A76
Honorary Chairs
William S. Cummings, A58,
M97P, J97P
Dr. Bernard M. Gordon, H92
Daniel F. Pritzker, A81
Karen M. Pritzker
Executive Committee
Kathryn C. Chenault, Esq., J77
Steven B. Epstein, Esq., A65,
A96P, A01P, A07P, AG04P
Nathan Gantcher, A62, H04
Martin J. Granoff, A91P
Daniel A. Kraft, A87
Joseph E. Neubauer, E63, J90P
Agnes Varis, H03
Leadership
Donor “Adopts”
Class of 2008
for Annual Fund
Participation
To learn more about adopting
a class for the 3-2-1 Blastoff!
challenge, please contact
Caryn Karo at
caryn.karo@tufts.edu
or 617-627-4682.
raised from other donors, creating a “multiplier
effect” that will strengthen the impact of
the Smith Fund.
“The Smiths have been very generous in
offering a great deal of flexibility in how to use
their gift,” Bacow says. “Unrestricted resources
are critical in allowing Tufts to make strategic
investments in its academic priorities.”
The Smiths, whose ties to Tufts span three
generations, are prominent philanthropists
in the Greater Boston area. They are longtime
benefactors of the Dana-Farber Cancer
Institute, and their family foundation in
Chestnut Hill annually awards millions of dollars
in grants to support healthcare, education,
anti-poverty initiatives, and cultural enrichment.
Carrying on the family tradition of philanthropy
and themselves generous supporters
of Tufts are daughter Debra Smith Knez, J82, a
Tufts trustee; Brian Knez; and son and daughter-in-law
Robert and Dana Weiss Smith, J88.
Two years after Jon Levy, E83, graduated, he made
his first donation—$50 to the Tufts Fund. Twenty­three
years later, this leadership donor and class gift officer is
encouraging the Class of 2008 to make similar donations
by promising to match their annual gifts over the next
three years at a rate of 3:1 the first year, 2:1 the second
year, and 1:1 the third year as part of a newly launched
3­2­1 Blastoff! challenge. After the third year, the young
alumni will take full responsibility for their donations.
“I look at how much I got out of Tufts—the experience,
the friends I made,” says Levy, president of American
Holt Corp. “If you enjoyed your experience at Tufts,
it makes sense to give back to the school so it can
continue to grow and offer more to everyone.”
The goal of the challenge is to increase the level of
participation among young alumni, who hold the lowest
percentage of contributions but are a key demographic
to the Tufts Fund, says Caryn Karo, assistant director
of the Tufts Fund for Arts, Sciences, and Engineering.
Levy is the first to “adopt” a graduation class, and
Tufts is seeking donors to follow in his footsteps for the
classes of 2009 and 2010.
Levy says, “If everyone gives $25, that would send two
or three more kids to school; it all adds up.”