FROM THE VICE PRESIDENT

For the second year in a row, Virginia Tech has broken its own fundraising record. Private giving to the university in fiscal year 2007-2008 reached $91.1 million. That represents an increase of 8.7 percent over the past year.

Once again, individual donors came through for the university, contributing $61.4 million, or 67 percent of total giving. It is also worth noting that friends of the university, or those who are not alumni, parents, or employees, accounted for more than 20 percent of total giving, showing once again that Virginia Tech touches the lives of many people--not just those who went to school here.

Three-quarters of our fundraising units saw an increase in dollars raised over last year. In particular, the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine nearly tripled last year´s total, raising $5,452,074 this year. Several other units deserve recognition for their fundraising efforts, including Fine and Performing Arts, which saw a 150 percent increase; the Graduate School, which saw a 183 percent increase; the Honors Program, which had an increase of 574 percent, and the W.E. Skelton 4-H Center at Smith Mountain Lake, with an increase of 467 percent.

Fiscal year 2007-2008 was exciting, not just for the money raised, but also because it was also the first year of the public phase of The Campaign for Virginia Tech: Invent the Future. At the end of the first year of the public phase of the campaign, we had raised $683,490,574, or 68.35 percent of the $1 billion goal. Alumni continue to be critical to our fundraising success, accounting for more than 46 percent of total giving to the campaign.

We are already seeing dramatic and tangible evidence of the effect that private philanthropy is having on campus as a number of new facilities are coming online, like Bishop-Favrao Hall and the Institute for Critical Technologies and Advanced Sciences (ICTAS) I. Bishop-Favrao Hall, which opened this spring, houses the Department of Building Construction and the new Myers-Lawson School of Construction. The facility also provides state-of-the-art laboratory spaces, include testing labs, wet labs, material handling, tool and welding labs, and workshops for assembly of construction systems. ICTAS I is almost ready for occupancy and will provide space for offices, research, and most importantly, a permanent home for the institute, which supports and promotes cutting-edge research at the intersection of engineering, science and medicine. Support for new facilities like these is important as we continue to strive to create learning and research opportunities for faculty and students alike.

Another facility, the experimental theatre currently under construction on College Avenue, reflects our focus on providing enriched cultural prospects for students, faculty, and members of the community. Soon, with the help of private philanthropy, our campus will be home to a new arts complex, of which the new theatre is but a part. The complex will also include a performance hall and a visual arts gallery that promotes partnerships with arts organizations. A renovated Shultz Hall will also be part of the complex.

Also for the second year in a row, scholarship giving nearly doubled, proving once again that our friends and alumni know the value of a Virginia Tech education. Clearly, a strong scholarship program is an important component of our mission to educate and it is our desire to remove financial barriers to all students who meet the admission requirements for the university. Private philanthropy continues to help us meet that goal.

Our corporate and foundation partners have also stepped up this year, increasing their support for the university. Several of these gifts are noteworthy.

Fujitsu Computer Products of America Inc. gave a gift of equipment valued at more than $800,000 to the College of Engineering´s Office of Distance Learning and Computing.
GE FANUC Automation North America gave $325,000 in support of the electrical and computer engineering department and the College of Engineering endowed funds.
The Sigrid Rupp Trust donated $340,240 to support the Women´s Archives in Architecture.
The Invitrogen Corporation donated a mass spectrometer to the College of Science and the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute valued at $215,000.

Private philanthropy continues to make a difference at Virginia Tech, whether that support comes from alumni, friends of the university, or our corporate partners. It is your support that allows us to provide an exceptional education to our students, to support the extraordinary research of our faculty, and to offer our knowledge to the world.

Elizabeth A. "Betsy" Flanagan

Vice President for Development
and University Relations