Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg announced an additional reason to celebrate at the start of Pitt’s homecoming weekend. In an Oct. 12 event in Alumni Hall, he officially broke the news that the University’s Building Our Future Together fundraising campaign had surpassed its $2 billion goal to stand at $2.047 billion.

Alumni fill the Cathedral of Learning Commons Room in a homecoming that ended Pitt’s year-long celebration of its 225th year as an institution of higher education.

“Exceeding our record-setting $2 billion campaign goal is a momentous milestone made possible by the extraordinary generosity of University supporters, who have demonstrated their commitment to Pitt and its longstanding mission of building better lives through the power of education and research,” Nordenberg said. “More important than that extraordinarily large dollar amount is the impact that these funds will have — on the lives of our hard-working and high-achieving students, on the ambitious and often trailblazing work of our world-class faculty and on the economic strength and vibrancy of our home region. These well-targeted investments in Pitt will help ensure the bright future of an institution whose long and proud 225-year history already spans two complete centuries and parts of two others.  The entire University community is deeply grateful to each and every one of our donors.”

The campaign had an initial goal of $500 million when it was launched in 2000. That goal was doubled in 2002 to $1 billion, then doubled again in 2006 to $2 billion. The campaign will continue through the June 30 end of the fiscal year.

Blum and Tansky address the crowd of faculty, staff, students and alumni gathered in Alumni Hall’s Connolly Ballroom. In addition to serving as co-chairs of the Building Our Future Together campaign, Blum is vice chair of Pitt’s Board of Trustees and Tansky is a member of the board.

By the numbers

• Some 182,000 donors contributed to the fundraising campaign.

• Approximately 1,500 new endowments were established, including 593 for student scholarships and fellowships and 145 for faculty chairs and named professorships.

• About 40 percent of the total came from individuals; 60 percent came from private organizations, including foundations, corporations and other organizations.

• Nearly half the total was given by donors outside of Pennsylvania.

• The campaign attracted 315 gifts of $1 million or more including 17 gifts ranging from $10 million to $25 million and 11 donations of more than $25 million.

• Of the 315 $1 million-plus donors, 90 had never made a gift of any size to the University.

Photos by Mary Jane Bent, Mike Drazdzinski & Joe Kapelewski CIDDE

The annual homecoming fireworks and light show paid homage to Pitt’s 225th anniversary, below left, and the achievement of Pitt’s $2 billion fundraising goal.