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Dear university colleague:
As we wrap up the calendar year and the second quarter of the fiscal year, I’m reflecting on the OSU Foundation’s partnership with you — our university leaders, including coaches and holders of endowed faculty positions. I’m excited to share a snapshot of the progress we’ve made since my last update; I appreciate your collaboration in advancing Oregon State University’s mission. The big news? We crossed the $1.6 billion mark toward the $1.75 billion goal in the Believe It fundraising and engagement campaign.
On November 5 at OSU President’s Dinner, we celebrated 24 new members of the Harris Society who have given $1M or more in their lifetimes to Oregon State University, as well as donors crossing the $5M, $10M and $25M thresholds in cumulative giving. Nearly 350 donors, friends and students joined us for the event at the Portland Art Museum in downtown Portland. We now have 570 members in our Harris Society. Thank you to our university colleagues who participated in the event, and congratulations to our honorees.
OSUF’s mission by the numbers
I. Inspire investment – Tracking ahead of five-year average but behind LYTD (see important year-end giving info)
The first quarter of the fiscal year (July 1 – September 30) ended strong, with donors giving $46.7M toward our baseline goal of $160M for the year (stretch goal = $196M). This is above our five-year average of about $36M at this time but behind last year to date. The difference? We have yet to close a principal gift ($5M+) this year. We are working on it!
December is one of our two most productive months in the OSU Foundation because many donors give prior to the end of the tax year. The other busy month is June, our fiscal year end.
For information about 2025 year-end giving and important deadlines, please visit this page on our website and share it with your network. All gifts must be received by Dec. 31 in order to count toward this tax year.
II. Engage our community – Successful fall events and membership challenge
One of the many ways that we engage our community – and steward and inspire our donors, alumni, parents and friends – is through events. With the excitement of a new academic year, the fall is our busiest time for gatherings. In addition to the President’s Dinner, we hosted a variety of events to celebrate Beaver Football, including home and away tailgates as well as game watching in Valley Endzone Skybox.
Other fall events included:
- Donor reception prior to the fall Provost’s Lecture, featuring author Margot Lee Shetterly
- Curator’s Reception at the President’s Residence
- Reception in Washington, D.C.
- Dam Good Connections in Portland as part of our Three States Matter Most strategy (70% of our alumni and friends live in California, Oregon and Washington) - more DGC events are coming later this academic year!
- A Women’s Giving Circle reception
- Receptions for Mighty Beavers (OSU alumni who are also university employees) and OSU Loyal (employee donors)
Throughout November, we promoted a month-long alumni association annual membership appeal challenge, which this year included a friendly rivalry with Washington State University. Like last year, we leaned into AI and machine learning to refine and optimize segmentation, custom messaging and personalization for this appeal, working with our partners at Fundmetric. While we didn’t win the challenge this year (next year!), the competition generated over $100,000 in additional revenue and helped us recruit or upgrade 662 members. This is great news as alumni memberships are clear demonstration of support for the university.
III. Steward resources – Endowment closed Q1 at a historic high
When the first quarter of the year closed on September 30, our endowment market value was at its highest point in the history of the OSU Foundation, at $1.059 billion. Our endowment crossed the $1 billion milestone for the first time in June 2025 and has held steady since, thanks to our incredible donor community and thoughtful leadership by the OSU Foundation’s Investment Committee and our outsourced CIO.
This fall, the OSU Foundation distributed the 2025 endowment report to more than 1,800 endowed fund donors and their families. This report, published annually, provides our donors with an update on fund performance, including a personalized report on the funds each donor supports, and inspiring stories about student, faculty and program beneficiaries. For the first time this year, the online versions of the personalized donor reports were distributed through our new OSU Foundation & Alumni Association Portal.
Following meetings, we were pleased to toast our new Trustees prior to our September board dinner. From left to right, our new Trustees: JJ Cadiz, College of Engineering, ’97, College of Liberal Arts, ’97; Sherry Sheng; Brent Leback, College of Science, ’84; Bob Grover, College of Agricultural Sciences, ’83; and Laurie Reser, College of Business, ’87. (Missing from the photo is Tim Sissel, College of Engineering, ’97, who participated online.)
Recapping the joint OSU Foundation & Alumni Association’s fall board meetings
The fall meeting for the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees occurred in Corvallis from September 25-26.
Each fall, we welcome new and returning Trustees, accept the annual audit and elect new Lifetime Trustees. As is our tradition for this meeting, we also hold joint sessions and social activities with our Alumni Association Board of Directors.
The goals of the meeting included:
- Hearing a State of the University update from President Jayathi Murthy, Provost Roy Haggerty, and Vice Presidents Carla Hoʻā and Scott Barnes
- Learning about the university’s clean energy priority research area, which included a tour of the university’s Radiation Center
- Hearing a campaign update and peer comparisons from our consultant Martin Grenzebach from Huron Consulting Group (formerly Grenzebach, Glier & Associates (GG&A))
- Doing a deep dive on our work on alumni engagement and the importance of volunteers
One of the best parts of our fall meetings is the opportunity to spend meaningful time with university leaders, which also included Vice Presidents Rob Odom and Irem Tumer, as well as new-to-OSU leaders Nechell Bonds, Debbie Craig, Philip Williams and Forrest Masters. We also enjoyed meeting our new Student Alumni Ambassadors.
By coming together as partners — volunteers, university leaders and Foundation staff — and engaging in challenging discussions and joint strategy development, we not only build community, but we also ensure full alignment in advancing the university’s ambitious goals.
To celebrate OSU's endowment topping $1 billion at the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year, Provost Haggerty delivered a cake to our all-staff meeting. Learn about the impact of endowment donors in this year’s report.
Implementing our strategic plans
As you can infer from this update, there are many ways the OSU Foundation and the campaign directly support the university’s goals in Prosperity Widely Shared. You can read more in this end-of-calendar-year appeal from President Jayathi Murthy on the university’s progress and how donors can help.
Here are a few additional highlights:
I. Oregon State will be a university focused on big discoveries that drive big solutions – “Doubling research expenditures”
We are partnering with the Office of the Provost on a fourth Provost’s Faculty Match program, designed to incentivize the creation of endowed faculty position funds that support the university’s priority research areas (climate science, clean energy, biotechnology and integrated health, and robotics). Thanks to a generous response from our donors, less than a quarter of the available funds from the Provost’s Faculty Match remain. So far 17 donors have made gifts of $250,000 or more, totaling over $9.87M. (We now have a total of 210 endowed faculty position funds at OSU.)
For more information on the program, please contact my colleague Marlys Amundson at Marlys.Amundson@osufoundation.org.
II. Oregon State will be a university where every student graduates – “Increasing six-year graduation rates to 80%”
I am grateful to our donors who are giving generously to support our students. As of June 30, 2025, donors had given $362.3M toward our $500M campaign goal for student success (72.5% of goal). This includes $7.91M for the university’s Finish in Four program.
The newly formed Student Success Donor Society is now 908 members strong and making an incredible impact. Last academic year alone, 4,986 students benefited from donor-funded scholarships.
To keep these champions of student success engaged and informed about the impact of their gifts, the OSU Foundation has expanded the team working on philanthropy for scholarships and fellowships:
Joel Moersch, our new senior director of development, leads the OSU Foundation’s Scholarships and University Initiatives team of fundraisers: Denise Harrison, director of development II; Kristen Henry, associate director of development; and Jesus Rangel, associate director of development. We will also welcome an additional gift officer in the coming months.
On the stewardship team, Amy Ellis, senior director of stewardship, co-leads the Student Success Donor Society with Joel. This fall, we also welcomed Valerie Fulleton, assistant director of stewardship, scholarship and student success.
Volunteers are also essential to our success. The Student Success Campaign Cabinet is co-chaired by Ruth Beyer, ’77, and Rebecca Camden, ’17 (Hon. alum). (See the full list of cabinet members.)
III. Oregon State will be a university that fuels a thriving world in every dimension – “Become a force for economic growth in our state”
OSU's Frontiers of Advanced Semiconductor Technology (FAST) coalition is a finalist in the National Science Foundation's Regional Innovation Engines competition. If selected, Oregon could receive up to $160M in federal funding investment over the next decade to advance AI-driven chip design and manufacturing, workforce development and economic growth. The Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex is a key differentiator for Oregon, providing world-class facilities for research and training. Read President Murthy’s LinkedIn post about the NSF’s site visit.
If you have yet to read the winter 2025 issue of the Oregon Stater alumni magazine, focused on food, check it out!
News
JaMarcus Shephard is named OSU’s new head football coach.
Products by Shaniko Wool Company are featured in Team USA uniforms by Ralph Lauren for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. In this video, meet Shaniko’s founder and president, Jeanne Carver, College of Education, M.S. ’79.
VIDEO: Learn about the Trust for Public Land’s gift of Oregon State’s 10th research forest.
A gift from Sara Rothschild and Bob Rothschild, College of Engineering, ’65, is expanding student opportunities and improving health in Botswana.
The new accountancy degree program at OSU-Cascades will offer increased learning experiences for students, thanks to a gift from Lance Brant, College of Business, ’91.
A forest donated by the Marion Matteson family serves as an outdoor classroom in a program led by OSU Extension.
Hythem El-Nazer has established two new endowed scholarships in the College of Pharmacy to honor his parents, both of whom were OSU graduates.
College of Science Distinguished Service Award winners Eileen Hartmann, College of Business, ’74, ’76, and Norbert Hartmann support the next generation of scientists through endowed scholarships and faculty support.
Veteran students gain hands-on experience through a semiconductor training program supported by OSU industry partner Analog Devices.
Ten questions with Veronica Irvin, holder of the endowed professorship in public health established by Celia Strickland Austin, College of Health, ’76, and G. Kenneth Austin III, College of Business, ’76.
Thank you for collaborating closely with the OSU Foundation in 2025. Here’s to another great year in 2026! (Pictured above is one of four seasonal commissioned watercolor paintings by artist and OSU alumna Jan Roberts-Dominguez.)
Thank you
I am grateful for all the ways you strengthen Oregon State University and partner with the OSU Foundation. As you close out the calendar year, please check out this “Top 10” list on how to be part of the Believe It campaign and continue to build momentum for OSU.
Sincerely,
Shawn L. Scoville
President & CEO
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