It was a record-setting year for private support at the University of Washington, with more than $122 million in gifts and private grants received during 1993-94. This is more than 22 percent over last year’s total, says Marilyn Dunn, vice president for development.
The total includes gifts ($56.2 million) and grants ($66.5 million) from individuals, corporations, foundations and associations. Private support totals exclude all contracts, regardless of source, and any form of government support, explains Dunn.
The University of Washington ranks in the top 20 American universities in total private support. It was fifth among public universities for 1992-93, according to the most recent rankings published by the Council for Aid to Education. The top fundraiser that year was Harvard with $220 million.
Among the gifts contributing to this year’s record total was a $2 million commitment in June from the Washington Research Foundation (WRF) for an endowed chair in basic biological science. The WRF chair honors Genetics Professor Benjamin Hall, whose research in yeast genetics led to the development of a hepatitis B vaccine now used worldwide. The technology has been licensed to pharmaceutical companies by the foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves research institutions in the state.
“Many technologies developed at the University of Washington have a great impact when transferred to the marketplace,” says Foundation Chairman Thomas Cable. “We think it’s important that returns from those technologies are reinvested in the University.”
This is the second consecutive year the Washington Research Foundation has made a substantial gift for endowment. In 1993, the foundation contributed $1 million for endowed graduate fellowships honoring Professor Hall and Dr. Gustav Ammerer, whose joint work on gene transcription led to the vaccine.