9-21-98

Contacts:
Thomas J. Mitchell, ISU Foundation, (515) 294-4077
John McCarroll, University Relations, (515) 294-6136

ISU HITS $300 MILLION GOAL EARLY, EXTENDS CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

AMES, Iowa -- With a $300 million goal reached 21 months ahead of schedule, Iowa State University is extending the largest fund- raising campaign in its history.

The goal for "Campaign Destiny: To Become the Best" has been extended to $425 million by June 30, 2000, ISU President Martin C. Jischke announced Friday, Sept. 18, at the university's Order of the Knoll 1998 Fall Gala.

"Three years ago, we announced an aggressive goal to raise $300 million over five years to support our quest to become the best," said Jischke, addressing some 575 alumni and friends at the event. "Our future, our destiny to become the nation's best land-grant university, was present that night in September 1996. To me, achieving this goal was never a question, it was just a matter of time given the remarkable history of generosity of Iowa State's donors."

As of Sept. 15, Campaign Destiny had raised $300,332,596. The campaign is conducted by the ISU Foundation.

"Overwhelming support from alumni and friends enabled us to reach the original $300 million goal within an extraordinary amount of time. That kind of commitment enthuses this campaign for its remaining two years to reach an even higher level," said Campaign Destiny National Chair Charles S. Johnson, the CEO, president and chair of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.

"The time has come to expand the dream, to add new dimensions, new visions, and new possibilities," said Jischke in announcing the campaign's extension to $425 million.

Included in the extended campaign goal is a major fund-raising initiative aimed at transforming the ISU College of Business. Other fund-raising initiatives involve a Global Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Reiman Gardens, the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, a 4-H/Extension Building and an ISU Honors Program Building.

The ISU Foundation launched Campaign Destiny in September 1996 to provide critical resources to implement projects envisioned in Iowa State's strategic plan. In outright and deferred gifts, the campaign has generated approximately $83 million for endowments, $23 million for new and enhanced programs, $55 million for buildings and equipment, $68 for student financial aid, $10 million toward the Greater University Fund for Excellence, and $62 million for general usage.

"This campaign is impacting every major achievement at Iowa State," said Jischke. "These record-setting private gifts are improving, retooling, or centralizing our facilities. They are helping to shape the programs that are teaching students the skills they need for the 21st century."

Through Campaign Destiny gifts, the university is proceeding with such projects as:

• Construction of Stanley and Helen Howe Hall, phase one of the Engineering Teaching and Research Complex and scheduled for completion in fall 1999

• Construction of Palmer Human Development and Family Studies Building, consolidating family development programs in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences

• Renovation of the undergraduate chemistry labs for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

• Construction of a major capital project for the College of Design

• Retooling of the Undergraduate Electronic Commons in Parks Library

• Construction of Jack Trice Stadium skyboxes and new football practice fields

• Addition of the Intensive Livestock Research Facility to Kildee Hall.

Campaign Destiny gifts have launched a new era for Iowa State's communications program to become the university's first named school, the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. They have created the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship in the College of Business.

Perhaps one of the most dramatic campaign achievements is the President's Scholarship Campaign, which has now generated almost $68 million in new scholarship commitments.

Gifts also have established many faculty positions, such as the Henry A. Wallace Endowed Chair in Sustainable Agriculture, and seeded innovative research projects, such as the Roy J. Carver Center for Biological Scanning Probe and Laser-Based Microscopy.

"The record-setting pace of Campaign Destiny means exciting educational, research, and outreach opportunities for Iowa State," said Tom Mitchell, ISU Foundation president. "This private support demonstrates the pride and belief that so many people have in Iowa State's destiny to become the best land-grant university in the nation."

-- 30 --

Iowa State homepage

University Relations, online@iastate.edu
Copyright © 1997, Iowa State University, all rights reserved
URL: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/releases/campaign09.21.html
Revised 9/21/98