OUR WORLD TODAY FACES several significant challenges—most pressing are the economy, energy and the environment, and health care. In the Institute of Technology, our scientists and engineers are at the forefront of life-enhancing technologies that will have a direct impact on the economy. They are finding new, more efficient, and sustainable energy resources; discovering emerging technologies, devices, and therapies to improve human health; and determining new ways to use nanotechnology in energy, health care, and more.
The future of our great state and nation rests in the hands of capable scientists and engineers, and your investment in their education is essential.
Last fiscal year, we received significant financial support from our alumni and friends—totaling $13.3 million—enabling us to work toward real world solutions.
Below are examples of these generous gifts.
Ron (ME ’72) and Janet Christenson recently made a significant stock gift endowing a chair in the energy field. Passionate about helping to solve our nation’s energy crisis, they believe our faculty and students can lead the way in this endeavor.
For three years, the 3M Foundation has awarded a 3M Engineering Retention Initiative grant, helping
to attract and retain underrepresented students.
Dorene Scriven and the late L.E. Scriven, a long-time professor of chemical engineering and materials
science, made a generous gift from their estates to support the L.E. and D.H. Scriven Research Fellowship
Fund for graduate students in chemical engineering
and materials science and the Summer Undergraduate Research Participants Awards Endowment
to support undergraduate research.
Stephen (BusAdmin ’74, InfoMgmt ’76) and Margaret Klick and their family believe rural Minnesota’s
economic future requires more innovative engineers
and scientists. They have endowed the Klick Foundation Scholarship to ensure that students from Long Prairie/Grey Eagle High School, Sauk Center
High School, Minnewaska Area High School or former attendees of Camp Alpha located in Morris, have access to an IT education.
Through the Mr. & Mrs. George W. Taylor Foundation,
the late George W. Taylor (ME ’34), and Mrs. George Taylor have provided significant support for many years. Most recently, they gave $1 million to renovate Lind Hall, which will serve as an “IT Home” for our students.
Dr. Aristides A. Yiannoulos (EE Ph.D. ’68) has named the college as a beneficiary of his will. His generosity will eventually establish a named professorship
in electrical and computer engineering.
Boston Scientific Corporation and St. Jude Medical,
Inc. have both made generous gifts to support the Institute for Engineering in Medicine’s Medical Device Center Fellows program, which brings together
postgraduate engineering researchers, seasoned
medical device professionals, and physicians to identify, develop, prototype and test medical devices.
The program provides an immersive one-year product development experience for its fellows.
The late Robert E. Rice (EE ’31) endowed the Robert E. Rice Scholarship Fund through a generous
bequest gift. His scholarship will be awarded to freshmen and transfer students with academic promise and who have an interest in pursuing an electrical and computer engineering degree.
These gifts and so many others have strengthened
our college, enabling us to attract top-notch faculty and students, provide a world-class education,
conduct groundbreaking research, and contribute
to our nation’s economy and quality of life through innovation. We are grateful to all of our alumni and friends who have made gifts—both large and small. Please visit www.it.umn.edu/giving for a complete listing of fiscal year 2007-08 gifts.
Approximately 200 current and retired 3M employees gathered this fall in St. Paul to celebrate the century-long partnership between 3M and the Institute of Technology.
From left: 3M event host Wes Swanson (ME ’58, M.S. ’60),
former 3M employee Kimberly Johnson (Psych ’86), Post-it® Notes inventor and event host Art Fry (ChemE ’55), and U of M Department of Mechanical Engineering head Uwe Kortshagen, gathered with hundreds of other current and retired employees
of 3M to celebrate the 100-year partnership between the Institute of Technology and 3M.
Alumnus Gary Kwong (Chem ’67, Ph.D. ’75) talks with 3M Vice President of Community Affairs Alex Cirillo. Cirillo, a member of the Institute of Technology Dean’s Advisory Board, spoke at the event.
At the event, 3M Vice President of Community Affairs Alex Cirillo spoke about how University of Minnesota Institute of Technology alumni have contributed to the success of 3M. Many Institute of Technology alumni have served in top leadership roles at 3M as vice president or president, including Harry Heltzer (MetEng M.S. ’33) and R. P. Carlton (EE ’21). Eight of the current Top 110 executives of 3M are alumni of the Institute
of Technology.
Several other alumni have been recognized over the past decades as inventors of everything from gluebond sandpaper to the Post-it® Notes to the Scotchprint® Electrostatic
Printing System.
Charitable IRA legislation passed
CONGRESS HAS RENEWED LEGISLATION
allowing individuals to make gifts to charity using IRA assets for 2008 and 2009. The gift amount is excluded for gross income for tax years 2008 and 2009 and will satisfy the minimum
required distribution amount.
There are a few requirements:
You must be at least 70-1/2 years old at the time of the gift.
You may transfer up to $100,000 per year for 2008 and 2009.
You must request a direct transfer of funds to a qualified public charity, not a private foundation or donor advised fund.
Your gift cannot be used to fund a gift annuity or charitable remainder trust.
If you plan to make a gift to the college through your will, you may want to consider
making an immediate gift with your IRA
assets and see your gift at work right away. If you endow a fellowship or scholarship, the University’s match will double the benefit for students. Please be sure to contact a tax professional
and your IRA administrator if you are considering a gift under this law.
For more information, contact the Institute
of Technology Development Office at 612-626-7637 or 1-800-587-3884.
Donors provide generous support
THIS PAST FISCAL YEAR, more than 5,900 Institute of Technology alumni, friends, corporate,
and foundation donors gave gifts and pledges to the college, totaling more than $13.3 million.
These gifts will enable the Institute of Technology
to strengthen its faculty and student support and improve its ability to recruit the best and brightest.
“We are grateful for the generous support of our alumni, friends, and industry partners,” said Steven Crouch, dean of the Institute of Technology. “Their support is essential to our ability to provide a world-class education for future scientists and engineers who will solve our world’s most pressing problems.”
