Foundation Announces $43 Million in Gifts

Twenty private gifts totaling more than $43 million earmarked for University of Illinois programs at the Urbana-Champaign and Chicago campuses were announced today (Friday, Oct. 17, 2008) at the U of I Foundation’s 73rd Annual Meeting.

The gift announcements were part of the three-day meeting conducted by the Foundation, the University’s private gift fundraising arm. More than 500 alumni and friends of the U of I are attending the event held on the Urbana-Champaign campus.

The gifts from alumni and friends, which will be included in the University’s ongoing $2.25 billion Brilliant Futures fundraising campaign, were highlighted at the U of I Foundation’s Business Meeting Friday morning. Gifts made to the Urbana-Champaign campus include:

• a deferred gift in excess of $10 million from Gail Veasman Kellogg and Brooks Kellogg of Chicago and Steamboat Springs, Colo., that will establish the Gail Kellogg Endowed Fund in the College of LAS. The fund will provide scholarships for math and science students, faculty chairs and professorships, support for potential teaching activities in China, and high priority needs in the College. Gail Kellogg is a 1965 graduate of the U of I College of LAS. She is a retired partner with and consultant to Hewitt Associates, a global resources consulting and outsourcing firm. Brooks Kellogg is a real estate broker and developer with Chadwick Real Estate Group in Steamboat Springs and Beth Corporation in Libertyville, Ill.
• a deferred gift of about $5 million from George and Tamara Mitchell of Sidney, Ill., to create two endowed chairs in the College of LAS’s Department of Biochemistry and a fellowship in the College of Fine and Applied Arts. The Gregorio Weber Endowed Chair in Biochemistry honors the late U of I professor and researcher who specialized in florescence, spectroscopy and protein chemistry. The J. Woodland Hastings Endowed Chair in Biochemistry honors the former U of I and Harvard educator whose research focused on bioluminescence and circadian rhythms. George Mitchell studied under Hastings at Illinois and Harvard and did post-doctoral work with Weber. The Gregg and Jeff Helgesen Fellowship in Jazz Studies honors two accomplished jazz musicians, Gregg Helgesen and his son, Jeff. George Mitchell, who holds a master’s degree in chemistry from Illinois and a Ph.D. from Harvard, co-founded SLM Instruments, a scientific instruments company. Tamara Mitchell, who graduated from the University of Chicago and earned an M.D. at Harvard, was senior medical director at Carle Clinic, Urbana, and is a clinical associate professor at the U of I College of Medicine.
• a deferred gift of $1 million from Rosann Gelvin Noel of Champaign, Ill., in support of the Krannert Art Museum. Combined with previous significant support of the museum, her gift will result in the naming of the Rosann Gelvin Noel Gallery and fund art acquisitions or special exhibitions. A 1953 U of I graduate, Rosann Noel is a travel consultant through her company, The Chelsea Traveler. Her husband, Richard, is a University of Michigan graduate and managing partner of Noel Farms, a multi-state agricultural operation.
• a seven-figure deferred gift from Carol Berthold of Ellicott City, Md., that will create the Berthold Family Endowment Fund to provide unrestricted support for the University Library. The fund honors Carol’s parents, Gerrard and Mary Berthold, as well as her brother, Jerry Berthold, a U of I graduate. Carol, who received a bachelor’s degree in LAS at Illinois in 1964 as well as master’s and doctoral degrees from Northwestern University, has been involved in higher education her entire career. She was a faculty member and administrator at the University of Illinois at Chicago for 25 years and is now an associate vice chancellor for administration and finance for the University System of Maryland.
• a deferred $1 million gift from Jack and Charmian Bowsher of San Diego, Calif., that will create a fellowship and several scholarships. Most of their gift will support a fellowship and scholarships in the College of Education’s Department of Human Resources Education, with one scholarship named in honor of Charmian’s parents, Alfred and Helen Clem, and the others named for the donors. The remainder of the Bowshers’ gift will provide scholarships to undergraduates in the College of Business. One will be named the Matthew and Ella Bowsher Scholarship in honor of Jack’s parents. Jack Bowsher is a 1953 graduate of the U of I College of Business and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago. He retired as IBM’s director of education after a 33-year career in marketing and training. Charmian graduated from the U of I College of Education in 1956 and taught high school education courses for several years.

Seven gifts—three from individuals and four from global professional services firms—were directed to the College of Business for its new $60 million Business Instructional Facility on the Urbana-Champaign campus. Included were:

• $7.5 million outright from Michael T. and Nancy Tokarz and their family, of Purchase, N.Y., that creates Tokarz Hall, which houses undergraduate programs and classes. Mike Tokarz earned two degrees at Illinois—a bachelor’s in economics in 1971 and an MBA in 1973. President of the Tokarz Group, he is recognized for his accomplishments in investment banking and venture capital. He is chairman of the U of I Foundation board of directors.
• a pledge of $850,000 from Jeffrey and Deborah Margolis of Corona Del Mar, Calif., has created the Margolis Market Information Laboratory, a technologically advanced learning center that simulates the financial market environment. The lab will feature a primary instruction room, an advanced information and product development lab, and open-air computer lab. A 1984 Illinois graduate, Jeff Margolis earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in management information systems. He is the founder, chairman and CEO of the TriZetto Group, Inc., a provider of enterprise software, technology services and Internet-based software.  
• $500,000 outright from Jim and Lionelle Elsesser of Clayton, Mo., has established the Jim Elsesser and Lionelle Elsesser Classroom. A second gift of $500,000 from the couple will create fellowships, primarily in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Jim received a bachelor’s degree in industrial administration in 1966 and a master’s degree in management in 1967, both from the U of I. His career in business includes service as the vice president and chief financial officer of Ralston Purina. Lionelle earned two degrees at Illinois—a bachelor’s in English in 1966 and a master’s in Library and Information Science in 1967. She served as executive director of the Health Science Communications Association and as adjunct professor in the U of I Graduate School of Library and Information Science.
• $2.5 million from PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, to create the PricewaterhouseCoopers Accountancy Student Center, which will serve as a home for accountancy students on campus as well as those who have completed their degree.
• $2 million from Deloitte in support of the 300-seat Deloitte Auditorium, a state-of-the-art venue for important College of Business activities.
• $2 million from Ernst & Young to create the Ernst & Young Center for Career Advancement, which includes a suite of offices, meeting and interview rooms, and a resource room for the College’s career advancement function.
• $1 million from KPMG LLP to establish the KPMG International Accounting Suite, which includes offices, meeting and conference rooms.

Three gifts were designated for the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences on the Urbana-Champaign campus, including:

• a $2 million grant from the Clearing Corporation Charitable Foundation that will establish The Clearing Corporation Foundation Endowed Chair in Derivatives Trading in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics. The chair will build on the U of I’s renown in the area of futures and options trading. Chicago-based Clearing Corporation’s general counsel, Kevin McClear, and longtime board member Ron Filler, a 1970 Illinois graduate, were instrumental in the Foundation’s decision to establish the chair.
• a $2 million deferred gift from G. Richard Johnson of Urbana, Ill., that will support plant breeding activities in the Department of Crop Sciences. Johnson, who holds a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and a Ph.D. in plant breeding from Iowa State University, is a professor of crop sciences at the U of I and expert in plant breeding. Johnson also managed a corn breeding research station for DeKalb for several years.
• more than $600,000 outright and deferred from James and Erin Ross of Hawthorne, Fla., will support several activities, including an international travel award from a graduate student in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, judging teams for livestock, meat and dairy, and a scholarship for a wheelchair athlete in the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services. Jim Ross received four degrees from Illinois—a bachelor’s in journalism and general agriculture as well as a master’s and Ph.D. in agricultural economics. During his career, he’s been an agricultural journalist, economist with a Washington special interest group, professor at the University of Florida, and foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A graduate of St. John’s University, Erin Ross’s career includes service in the judiciary, the United Nations and the Department of State.

Also recognized were three gifts from faculty and administrators on the Urbana-Champaign campus, including:

• a deferred gift of about $750,000 from Robert Henderson of Urbana, Ill., that will establish the Robert and June Henderson Endowment Fund to support special education programs in the College of Education. The fund honors the memory of Professor Henderson’s wife, June, a social worker involved for many years in child abuse/neglect investigation for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. A faculty member at Illinois for more than 40 years, Bob Henderson was chair of the Department of Special Education for 20 years. He currently serves as professor emeritus at Illinois.
• current and deferred gifts totaling more than $500,000 from Kenneth and Mary Andersen of Champaign, Ill., with most of that total supporting the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts’ Marquee Performance Series. The focus will be to help the Krannert Center secure professional talent of the highest possible caliber. Ken Andersen earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Iowa and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. He served on the faculty and administration at the U of I for more than 30 years, and is professor emeritus in the Department of Communication. Mary Klaaren Andersen graduated from Hope College, has master’s and doctoral degrees in speech communication from the University of Michigan and a Master of Divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary. She taught at the U of I for 10 years and is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.
• a six-figure deferred gift from Donald Brieland and Wynne Korr of Champaign, Ill., to create the Dr. Donald Brieland and Dr. Wynne S. Korr Endowment for Social Work Fund. The fund will support a fellowship in and provide unrestricted support to the School of Social Work. A graduate of Carleton College, Brieland earned a master’s degree at Northwestern University and a Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. He is the founding director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and his long career in academia includes serving as professor in the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, dean of the School of Social Work on the Urbana-Champaign campus, and dean of the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Korr earned her bachelor’s and doctoral degrees at the State University of New York. She worked at the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities, taught at the Jane Addams College of Social Work for 14 years and directed the doctoral program at the University of Pittsburgh before she was named the dean of the School of Social Work at Illinois, a position she has held since 2002.

Two of the announced gifts have been designated for the U of I at Chicago College of Medicine. They are:

• $2 million outright from Bruno and Sallie Pasquinelli of Chicago that will help renovate the UIC Department of Surgery Diabetes Project Research Laboratory, create the UIC Department of Surgery Robotics Laboratory and Research Fellowship, and provide ongoing support for the Colbeth Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic. Bruno Pasquinelli, a grateful patient of the UIC Medical Center, also provided funding for a simulator dubbed “Bruno” as well as the 7 West unit of the UIC Medical Center, the in-patient home of the Walter Payton Liver Center. He is the co-founder of what is now Pasquinelli and Portrait Homes.
• more than $1 million outright from Stephen Cullinan and Theresa Falcon-Cullinan of Peoria, Ill., to endow the Dr. Theresa S. Falcon-Cullinan Professorship in Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Dr. Stephen A. Cullinan Professorship in Patient Safety. Stephen Cullinan graduated from Northwestern University and received his M.D. from UIC in 1972. Theresa Falcon-Cullinan received her medical degree at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, the Philippines. In addition to their medical practices, Stephen Cullinan and Theresa Falcon-Cullinan serve as clinical assistant professors at the College of Medicine’s Peoria campus.

The U of I Foundation’s annual meeting also included a reception at the renovated Memorial Stadium Thursday night, dedication and tours of the College of Business Instructional Facility scheduled for Friday afternoon, tours of and presentations at the renovated Activities and Recreation Center, formerly known as the Intramural Physical Education Building or IMPE, and a preview of the Sarah “Sally” McFarland Carillon on Saturday. The carillon project, spearheaded by H. Richard “Dick” McFarland in memory and honor of his wife, Sally, will include a 173-foot tower containing 48 bells and hold a bank of 500 songs. A formal dedication of the carillon and its surrounding plaza on the south campus will take place next year.

Brilliant Futures, the University of Illinois’ $2.25 billion capital campaign, has reached two-thirds of its goal. As of Sept. 30, 2008, the Brilliant Futures campaign stood at $1.478 billion. Outright gifts, grants and pledges to Brilliant Futures will support students, faculty, academic programs and other activities on the Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield campuses of the University. The fundraising effort, which began on July 1, 2003, is expected to conclude on Dec. 31, 2011.