Gifts to NU

Since 1931, the Alumnae of Northwestern has given more than $5 million in fellowships, scholarships, and awards to faculty and students.
 
Giving News: Alumnae Award Grants for 2010-2011 Northwestern Projects
The Alumnae of Northwestern University had awarded full and part funding for a unique range of projects, both on campus and as far away as the Philippines and South Africa.
Among principal gifts are:
 
Matching funds for the Mary and Leigh Block Museum exhibit, “Thomas Rowlandson: Pleasures and Pursuits in Georgian England.”

  • Marble flooring for the new Center for Historical Studies, part of the Harris Hall expansion currently under construction.
  • Support for purchase of a computerized CNC router for complex scenery production at the Theatre and Interpretation Center.
  • Housing and travel costs for David Holcenberg as music director of the American Music Theatre summer production.
  • Funding for implementation of the hydraulic ram pump clean water project in the Philippines.
  • Student participation is at the core of two programs at the Bienen School of Music:

- Performance of the best academic fugues written by 19th century Paris Conservatory  students; and
- Development of an Arts Education/Community Engagement Course for music performance students. The latter with involve on-site study of El Sistema, Venezuela’s renowned system of music education and social action.
 
Northwestern students will also participate in two programs targeted for high school students:

  • A leadership course for Evanston Township High School sophomores, and the 2010 Cardiology Summer Academy,
  • An intensive one-week science program for underserved Chicago high school girls.

 
Several outreach projects will support modern medical technology in developing countries where the power supply is unreliable or absent. Among them is a skin patch apnea detector permitting “kangaroo” (skin-to-skin) care of premature babies by their caregivers.
 
Also, in pre-clinical trials is a human-powered nebulizer to take samples for diagnosis of HIV/AIDS.  The unit is now being tested at the Desmond Tutu Center in Cape Town, South Africa, by Northwestern biomedical engineering students.
 
Fellowships, Scholarships, and Awards
 
Lauren Schlesinger, Jaime Griesgraber, and Colby Witherup, are the first recipients of the new Alumnae of Northwestern University Graduate Fellowships.  These 2009-2010 Fellows are full-time graduate students, each in a terminal Master's program, who show promise of achieving distinction in a career that will serve the public good and bring credit to to Northwestern University.  Click here for more about these outstanding women. 
 
Alumnae of Northwestern University Teaching Professorship
A $500,000 endowed professorship to honor a faculty member for excellence in teaching and curriculum innovation. The selected professor serves a three-year term.
 
WCAS Teaching Awards
Underwritten awards of the Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Awards for Outstanding Teachers.
 
Freshman Scholarship
A three-year scholarship for a freshman woman is provided by a $50,000 endowment.
 
Senior Woman's Award
Honors a senior woman whose volunteer work enhanced the University community.
 
School of Music Scholarship
A $10,000 gift matched by the dean of the School of Music funded students who need help meeting study and performance expenses.
 
Alumnae Scholars
More than 100 women doctoral candidates scholars have received graduate fellowships, which included full tuition and a stipend for the dissertation year.
 
 
Gifts, Grants, and Special Projects
 
Gifts and Grants Program
Annually helps University departments and faculty with important programs not included in their annual budgets. Past funding has gone to research, speakers, conferences, equipment, and study-related travel for faculty and students.
 
Funding for Campus Buildings and Renovation
Past Alumnae funds have laid foundations for the Alumnae Library, Rogers and Hobart Houses in the quadrangles, and helped build Norris University Center, home of its Continuing Education program. The Alumnae Board has pledged an additional $100,000 for Norris improvements. Funds for Harris Hall renovation ($50,000) and University Hall restoration ($50,000) have also been provided.
 
Alumnae Grant for Academic Enrichment
A more than $150,000 endowment raised to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Alumnae of Northwestern Unversity in 1991. Brings distinguished scholars and artists to campus annually.
 
John Evans Alumni Center (JEC)
The Board provided funds for the JEC’s new glass-paneled living room doors and renovation of a first floor meeting room in memory of board member Helen Knight.
 
The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art Gift
$25,000 was given to the on-campus museum for its expansion and special exhibits and gifts.
 
Anniversary Gifts to Schools
Schools of the University celebrating their quarter-century anniversaries are gifted a $1,000 contribution to be used at the schools dean’s discretion.
 
 
2009 Alumnae Grants Fund Student Internships, Special Programs
The Alumnae of Northwestern has awarded $132,500 in gifts and grants for University projects in 2009; the 25 funded proposals include undergraduate internships and research fellowships, interdepartmental programs and exhibits.
 
Major grants were given for the collaborative production of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass, for the Block Museum exhibit, A Room of Their Own: The Bloomsbury Artists in American Collections; and to host a seven-day residency of the American composer John Corigliano, including two public performances, student concerts and master classes. The Corigliano residency is being supported through the Alumnae’s Academic Enrichment Program.

Updated June 27, 2010