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July 12, 2001

With 2 years remaining, capital campaign has raised 82% of its $500 million goal

Pitt's capital campaign has raised nearly $412 million toward its $500 million goal, more than any other nonprofit institution in western Pennsylvania has ever raised, Chancellor Mark Nordenberg told the Board of Trustees on June 28.

The University is completing the fourth year of its fundraising campaign, which continues through June 30, 2003.

Nordenberg said that, to date, the campaign has attracted 80 gifts or commitments of more than $1 million, including funding for 28 academic chairs (each at the level of $1.5 million to $2.5 million).

Major gifts have included:

* A $10 million pledge from Pitt alumnus John Petersen to name the University's John and Gertrude Petersen Events Center, currently under construction.

* A $5 million commitment from the late Dorothy P. Simmons and former Pitt trustee Richard P. Simmons, chair emeritus of Allegheny Technologies, Inc., to create the Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Chair for Pulmonary Research and Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Research and Education in Interstitial Lung Disease, both in Pitt's School of Medicine.

* A $4 million advance distribution from the estate of Yolanda Barco, a Pitt law school alumna, former trustee and Meadville, Pa., attorney. The gift will be used for an endowment and current support of the law school's George and Yolanda Barco Law Library.

The campaign has added 345 named endowments supporting scholarships, fellowships, student resource funds and professorships, Nordenberg reported. Among these endowments are 138 scholarship funds, each at the $50,000-and-above level.

Of the campaign funds raised, 32 percent are from individuals, 42 percent from private foundations, 15 percent from corporations and 12 percent from other organizations.

"The campaign is well on its way toward achieving its three major goals: dramatically increasing Pitt's endowment, enhancing our facilities, and adding significantly to our program support," Nordenberg told trustees.

"In short, the campaign is providing essential support for the board's announced aspiration that by aggressively supporting the advancement of Pitt's academic mission, we will clearly and consistently demonstrate that this is one of the finest and most productive universities in the world."

— Bruce Steele


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