Building on the Legacy
Though the University at Albany is a public institution, the history of private giving at Albany dates virtually to its very beginnings. Three months after the founding of the New York State Normal School in December of 1844, James Wadsworth, a developer and philanthropist, left $300 in his will to the fledgling institution. The funds were designated for the Normal School’s first library—a “miscellany” library of 4,600 books of literature. The bequest was the first private donation to Albany.
In 1883, Albany’s graduates organized their first full-scale fund-raising campaign. To show their pride in the new Normal School Building being constructed on Willett Street, across from Washington Park in Albany, they voted to commission an Alumni Memorial Window for the Assembly Hall. Through donations of $2 to $10, $5,000 was raised for what was at that time the largest stained glass window in the United States.
In
1921, the Alumni Association spearheaded a campaign that led to the
construction of Pierce Hall, opened in 1935, and Sayles Hall, completed
in 1941.
In 1924, the University received its first major gift from an individual: a $10,000 bequest from the estate of former schoolteacher Harriet Donaldson, Class of 1872. The funds supported loans of $100 to junior and senior women.
These early gifts established a legacy of private support on which Albany—a public research university—continues to build. With an ever-decreasing percentage of our financial base coming from state revenues—only a little over 20 percent of our operating budget comes from your tax dollars—private support keeps UAlbany healthy and competitive.
In the last four years, for instance, the University’s endowment has grown 145 percent, and overall private support is up 265 percent. The Annual Fund has surpassed a $2 million milestone.
What this means is more scholarships for better students, more and better academic facilities, less crowded classrooms, more assistantships, stronger research through fellowships, more library books and a better maintained campus. In short, it creates a richer educational environment for the University at Albany.
This special issue of Albany magazine contains the University’s 1998-1999 Honor Roll of donors. It also celebrates some of the University’s most exemplary donors and outstanding students who have benefited from that generous support. We hope it inspires you and renews your pride in UAlbany.
— Robert Ashton
Vice President, University Advancement