FY17 giving to the University of Minnesota is its second highest ever

What: University of Minnesota Board of Regents meeting
When: Thursday, September 7 and Friday, September 8, 2017
Where: Sixth floor, McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis

More than 71,000 donors supported the University of Minnesota through philanthropic contributions in fiscal year 2017. The gifts totaled $337 million, bringing a total of over $1 billion in private gifts over the last three years. The University’s Board of Regents will hear the full report of the University of Minnesota Foundation’s annual performance in its first meeting of the 2017-2018 academic year, September 7 and 8.

“Every day donors, non-profits, companies and communities choose the University as an important partner in addressing the most challenging questions of our time,” said Kathleen Schmidlkofer, President and CEO of the U of M Foundation. “University of Minnesota donors support our students, world-changing research and field shaping faculty on all five campuses of the U of M.”

Established in 1962, the University of Minnesota Foundation raises private dollars for use by the University of Minnesota system. The largest area of support raised in fiscal year 2017 was to students ($98 million), followed by academic program support ($78 million), capital improvements ($54 million), research ($48 million), outreach and community engagement ($32 million) and faculty support ($27 million). As a result of the stewardship of dollars invested over generations and current use gifts, donor gifts made available a record $237 million to the University this year to be used as they have directed—either to fund students, faculty, research, programs or other strategic investments.

New Regents Professor
The Board of Regents will also recognize Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin as the University’s newest Regents Professor. Professor Ní Aoláin is internationally renowned in the field of international and human rights law and is considered one of the world’s leading scholars on conflict resolution and gender-based violence in conflict.

Established in 1965 by the Board to recognize the national and international prominence of faculty members, the Regents Professorship is the highest honor the University bestows on its faculty. The University currently has 30 Regents Professors.

The Board approved Professor Ní Aoláin’s appointment to Regents Professor June 9, 2017.

The Board is also expected to:

• Review the University’s 2018 capital budget request, which focuses on asset preservation and building maintenance on all five campuses, ensuring that University facilities are kept safe, efficient, modern and usable for decades to come.
• Hear a report on undergraduate, graduate and professional academic program changes and discuss the process by which faculty and academic units develop proposals for new academic programs.
• Recognize the University Libraries as one of 10 recipients of the 2017 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries for service to the community. The University libraries is only the third academic library to win the award in 23 years. The Board will also hear about the University Libraries’ contribution to outreach and other components of the University’s mission.
• Review committee work plans, which provide a framework for committee agendas for the 2017-2018 school year and align the work with the Board’s priorities.

Committee meetings begin at 7:45 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 7. Committee work continues Friday, Sept. 8 at 8:45 a.m., followed by the full Board meeting expected at approximately 10:30 a.m. For more information, including meeting times and locations, go to the Regents website.