PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The 300 University faculty, staff ,and student leaders, members of the Corporation of Brown University, and alumni volunteers who convened to launch the $3-billion BrownTogether campaign celebrated achievements as well as aspirations. In two years of quiet effort prior to the launch, donors — more than 40,000 of them — produced a “nucleus fund” of about $950 million to build momentum toward the public launch of the campaign.
“The investments Brown has committed to make in its faculty and students, in its research capabilities, and in its campus facilities are on a scale unprecedented in Brown’s history,” said Patricia Watson, senior vice president for University advancement. “They will build a Brown University and a global Brown community that is able to meet new challenges, to develop solutions, to advance knowledge and understanding, and to cultivate creative expression. This early success points to the exciting prospects and rewarding work that lies ahead in BrownTogether.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, after the Brown Corporation had officially accepted the final gifts in advance of the campaign launch, the nucleus fund stood at about $950 million. That total included gifts from 10 donors whose overall giving to Brown reached $25 million or more during this campaign. Early fundraising success has been achieved in a number of campaign priority areas:
$105 million for faculty excellence.
Recognizing that “faculty are the lifeblood of a great university,” Brown’s Building on Distinction strategic plan includes efforts in diversity, such as increasing the number of faculty from historically underrepresented groups across all academic disciplines. The campaign also will support increased time for scholarly pursuits, enriched pedagogy, course development, and mentoring programs for junior faculty. The nucleus fund has raised support for 34 new endowed positions, working toward the campaign’s goal of about 115 new faculty chairs at all ranks, as well as improved support for medical, clinical, and professors of practice.
$100 million for the School of Engineering.
The gifts made possible a fully funded new engineering building, a momentous milestone that allowed the University to break ground and proceed with construction. The gifts also endowed the deanship of the School of Engineering and provided support for new programs and initiatives. The University’s investment in engineering is a crucial part of “Using Science and Technology to Improve Lives,” one of the seven integrative themes that are at the core of Brown’s Building on Distinction strategic plan and the BrownTogether campaign.
$88 million for undergraduate financial aid.
All domestic undergraduates are admitted to Brown on a need-blind basis. A strategic goal for BrownTogether is to realize Brown’s long-standing ambition to increase support for need-blind admissions, including increased aid for lower- and middle-income students. Financial aid helps Brown secure admission from the best and brightest students around the world.
$80 million for the Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International and Public Affairs.
Brown’s strategic plan asserts that economic, political and cultural development are as important as defense and diplomacy in establishing peaceful and just societies. The Watson Institute is the University’s premier center for international studies and home to the international relations concentration and the global interests of affiliated centers. It will play a central role in the University’s determined effort to establish Brown as a leading center of international studies that integrates rigorous scholarship and education with active engagement in the world of international affairs.
$73 million for the Brown Annual Fund.
The Brown Annual Fund is the University’s primary source of unrestricted current-use funds, supporting financial aid and other University priorities as they arise.
$48 million for graduate and medical student support.
Brown’s Building on Distinction strategic plan envisions significant investment in doctoral stipends, additional master’s degree offerings, career services, and professional mentoring, as well as expanded clinical relationships and community partnerships for the Alpert Medical School and the School of Public Health.
$42 million for teaching, research and scholarship in medicine and public health.
Building on Distinction includes “deciphering disease and improving population health” as part of its vision for the Alpert Medical School and the Brown University School of Public Health. Improving human health requires an integrated approach to understanding the causes of disease and then translating that knowledge into new modes of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. This work is already underway. This year, the Alpert Medical School inaugurated a new M.D./Sc.M. degree program in primary care and population health. The University also approved plans to create the Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute, a collaboration with the state’s major hospitals to make a transformative impact on the health of children.
$19 million for BrownConnect.
A year ago, Brown University President Christina Paxson committed to raising funds to provide every undergraduate with at least one funded external research opportunity or internship opportunity. This commitment spawned the creation of BrownConnect, an online alumni and parent internship and mentoring program.