

Freeman Foundation Supports East Asian Studies
In January 2001, the Freeman Foundation awarded the East Asian Studies Department at UAlbany a $1.9 million grant under the Freeman Foundation's Undergraduate Asian Studies Funding Initiative. Among the many changes this 4-year grant will bring are the following:
> Student Scholarships for study abroad
> East Asian Summer Seminar
> East Asian Studies computer lab
> Post-doctoral Scholars and Visiting Scholars
> Curricular Reform
> More guided study
Freeman Foundation funding of just over $200,000 helped the University launch the BA in Chinese Studies/MBA Program in 1998, granting scholarships to the first cadre of three Chinese and nine UAlbany students.

In 1998, Barnes & Noble College Bookstores , Inc. pledged a total of $750,000 in support of the University at Albany.
The donation from Barnes & Noble, which has operated the bookstore on the University at Albany campus for 18 years, includes $500,000 in support of the new library, and $250,000 in support for book scholarships. Of the $250,000, $100,000 was used to establish the Barnes & Noble Endowed Book Scholarship fund, which awards book scholarships to students on the basis of merit and need; $50,000 created the Barnes & Noble Endowed Athletic Scholarship Book Fund, which awards book scholarships to University athletes; and $100,000 will support the Barnes & Noble Presidential Book Scholarships from 1999 through 2008, with awards made in $250 increments totaling $10,000 a year.
The donation from Barnes & Noble College Bookstores helped the University successfully meet the terms of a Kresge Challenge grant, generating a $500,000 award from Kresge Foundation for the new library building.