Dear university colleague:

As students return to our campuses, I write to thank you for your partnership in advancing the goals outlined in the university's and the Foundation's strategic plans and the $1.75 billion Believe It campaign.

In an effort to keep you – our university leaders, including our coaches and endowed faculty position holders – apprised of the Foundation’s activities, this newsletter will both reflect on our successes in fiscal year 2025 (FY25) and look ahead to what we will accomplish together this academic year.

100% participation! Thank you to the members of the Cabinet, Provost’s Council, Provost’s Senior Leadership Team* and the entire staff of the OSU Foundation for achieving 100% participation in giving in FY25. This is a huge point of pride that demonstrates our mission-driven culture and our commitment to OSU and our students. If you are an employee donor, be sure to check your email for an invitation to the OSU Loyal Celebration on October 20, where we will honor this year’s OSU Foundation Philanthropic Partner Award recipient, Kari Van Zee, associate head, senior instructor II and lead advisor in the OSU College of Science. (*Group names reflect FY25 terminology.)

OSUF’s mission by the numbers

I. Inspire investment 

• The last five years have been the five most successful fundraising years in OSU’s history.
  
  
• FY25 was our second-best fundraising year ever and the third time we’ve surpassed the $200 million milestone. It was also the first time we reached $200 million without a $50 million gift, proving the incredible breadth and depth of our donor community. This momentum puts our campaign total at $1.54 billion toward our $1.75 billion goal as of June 30, 2025.
  
  
• FY25 was also a record year for cash, i.e., outright gifts and pledge payments, as reported to the Voluntary Support of Education survey. The VSE is the only available resource for universities to compare apples to apples fundraising results. Our total was $189,543,156. Our top five years for cash have occurred in the last six years.
  
  

II. Engage our community 

• We welcomed more than 8,000 new alumni following June's commencement.
  
  
• FY25 was the second-largest year in tracked alumni and friend engagement in OSU’s history. This bodes well for our future because an engaged community is more likely to support the university, with gifts and as volunteers, over the long term.
  
  
• Beaver Caucus, our volunteer advocacy group, supported the university’s 2025 priorities at the state, local government and federal levels. For the first time this biennium, the state allocated more than $1 billion to the Public University Support Fund, which, combined with increases in the Oregon Opportunity Grant, moved Oregon closer to (but still behind) the national average for per capita student investment.
  
  

III. Steward resources 

• FY25 had a record market value for endowment, crossing the $1B milestone for the first time. Per NACUBO, in FY24, there were a total of 143 universities in the U.S. with endowments of $1B or more. Only 60 of those were public universities. When we look further at universities “like us” – land grant universities without an associated medical center – the number shrinks to only seven.
  
  
• Our endowment is comprised of more than 2,500+ funds. Having a $1B endowment is both a proof point of our excellence and a source of pride for Beaver Nation.

Congratulations to Dave Underriner, College of Forestry, ’81, for leading his first meeting as chair of the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees. I was delighted President Jayathi Murthy, Provost and Executive Vice President Roy Haggerty and vice presidents Scott Barnes (Athletics), Carla Hoʻā (Finance and Administration), Rob Odom (University Relations and Marketing) and Irem Tumer (Research and Innovation) were able to join us in Bend for our Executive Committee summer retreat. It was wonderful to have the Executive Committee of the OSU Alumni Association’s Board of Directors with us as well.

Recapping the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees’ Annual Executive Committee Retreat

Held in Bend from July 23-25, the retreat focused on aligning the board’s work with the university’s and Foundation’s updated strategic plans, all within the context of the $1.75 billion Believe It fundraising and engagement campaign.

Key topics included:

• advancing Prosperity Widely Shared, the university’s strategic plan, with a specific focus on efforts to raise six-year graduation rates to 80%;
• building long-term financial resilience for the university;
• enhancing student-athlete benefits;
• learning about the OSU-Cascades’ Innovation District; and,
• the national higher education landscape.

Prior to the retreat, we hosted our Bend roadshow event, “Believe It: An Evening with OSU Faculty”: part of an ongoing West Coast event series (70% of our alumni, parents, friends and donors live in California, Oregon and Washington) aimed at inspiring new and existing donors to further engage with the university and the Believe It campaign.

Throughout the retreat, we had the opportunity to hear from OSU-Cascades students and faculty members and to tour facilities. Special thanks to Senior Associate Dean Christine Pollard and Associate Vice President Rebecca Robinson for their hospitality.

In addition to increasing graduation rates, the university’s “Every Student Graduates” goal includes plans to help students find the right first job that leads to a fulfilling career. To support career programming, Karla Rockold on our alumni career engagement team was recently joined by Caitlin Sharp. Caitlin’s new position will allow the OSU Alumni Association to expand career programming for priority industries; most recently, we launched a new OSU Food and Beverage Industry Network with an event at alumni-owned CHO Wines in Hillsboro.

Implementing our strategic plans

Throughout this email, you can learn about many of the ways the OSU Foundation supports the university’s goals in Prosperity Widely Shared. 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. (We now have a total of 210.) Nearly three-quarters of the available incentive funds from the Provost’s Faculty Match have been allocated to endowed faculty position funds that support the university’s priority research areas (climate science, clean energy, biotechnology and integrated health, and robotics). So far 17 donors have made gifts of $250,000 or more totaling over $9.8 million, and there are five open conversations with donors about new faculty endowments, including three over $1 million.

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 student success and Finish in Four. As of June 30, 2025, donors had given $362.3 million toward our $500 million campaign goal for student success (72.5% of goal). This includes $7.91 million for the university’s Finish in Four program.

To keep these champions of student success engaged and informed about the impact of their gifts, we are recruiting a new assistant director of stewardship focused on scholarships and student success. Duties will include managing the Student Success Donor Society: a recognition program honoring the 750 donors who support students through cumulative gifts of $50,000 or more for scholarships, graduate fellowships or student programs.

III. Oregon State will be a university that fuels a thriving world in every dimension - “Become a force for economic growth in our state”

The OSU Foundation is proud to be a close collaborator with Rebecca Robinson and OSU’s EDIR office, with our efforts led by Marlys Amundson, senior director of development, corporate relations.

The College of Engineering invited our Foundations Relations team to partner on support for VETS-UP, a program that leverages a partnership with Analog Devices, Inc., to upskill veterans and fulfill workforce needs in the semiconductor industry (semiconductors are Oregon’s top export). Through practical instruction in processing, electronics and robotics, participants gain the skills needed to succeed in this high-demand field.

If you have yet to read the fall 2025 issue of the Oregon Stater alumni magazine, focused on Beaver super fans, check it out!

News

With support from Joth Ricci, College of Business, ’91, and family, the College of Business is launching the Ricci Leadership Academy this fall.

ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter Scholar Derek Lilienthal in the College of Engineering is working to build safer AI.

Adjacent to the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts, OSU’s Rehearsal Classroom Building (home of the Linda and Frank Morse Classroom) has received a DeMuro Award for extraordinary craftsmanship and excellence in historic preservation.

Peter Jacobs, the James and Shirley Kuse Chair in Chemical Engineering, is creating AI-powered tools for patients with type 1 diabetes. 

Led by Northwest Berry Production and Management Professor Scott Lukas, OSU now may have one of the nation’s largest research plot in kiwiberries, also known as hardy kiwi.

David Rothwell, the Barbara Emily Knudson Chair in Family Policy in the College of Health, discusses how expansions to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program may help increase breastfeeding rates.

Oksana Ostroverkhova and Courtney S. Campbell have been named 2025 Margaret and Thomas Meehan Honors College Eminent Faculty.

In June, the OSU Foundation hosted the Advancement Leadership Forum (ALF) in Corvallis. ALF is a national forum that we participate in through our fundraising counsel, Grezebach Glier and Associations, now part of the Huron Group. It’s a group of public university foundations; we learn much from each other, especially since many of the members (including Indiana, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Maryland, Rutgers, Minnesota and Utah) are larger than us and have three to five campaigns under their belts. It was an honor to host this group of Big 10 advancement leaders.

Thank you

I am grateful for all the ways you strengthen Oregon State University and partner with the OSU Foundation. As you gear up for fall, please check out this “Top 10” list for how you and your constituents can be part of the Believe It campaign and continue to build momentum for OSU.

Sincerely, 

Shawn L. Scoville
President & CEO