Dear university colleague:

It’s hard to believe, with commencement on June 14, that the end of academic year is soon upon us. Our fundraising results are looking very good, and we are laser-focused on reaching the $200 million milestone. If we do, it will be the second year in a row, the third time in our history and the first time we will have raised that much without the benefit of a $50 million gift. This is excellent momentum as we head into the ninth year of the campaign.

I am grateful to you – our university leaders, including our endowed faculty position holders and coaches – for the many ways we, together, have advanced Oregon State University’s mission year:

• We inspired more than $1.5 billion in giving to the $1.75 billion Believe It fundraising and engagement campaign
• We celebrated a record-breaking giving day followed by a very fun Dammy Awards internal celebration
• We launched our new Student Success Donor Society and Mighty Beavers network for alumni employees
• We engaged our West Coast alumni, donors, parents and friends through events including our campaign roadshows in Corvallis, Seattle and Portland (see below) and “Dam Good Connections”
• We opened the newly renovated Withycombe Hall, thanks in large part to our lead donor Tillamook County Creamery Association
• We visited alumni and prospective students in Asia (where we have more alumni than anywhere else outside the U.S.)
• We hosted 250 guests representing 50 different volunteer groups for the Third Annual OSU Volunteer Leadership Summit on April 25 in Corvallis, coinciding with the OSU Alumni Association board meetings as well as about a dozen college/unit advisory meetings across the university
• We now have three regional gift officers (RGOs, new positions this year) dedicated to our goal to “Meet 10,000 Donors,” via phone, virtual and in-person meetings, to determine an inclination to make a major gift to OSU - in this campaign or the next. These RGOs review a menu of giving, volunteer and participation activities and invite these folks to become more engaged in the university.

In an effort to keep you apprised of the Foundation’s activities, I’m pleased to share this “Fundraising and Engagement Update,” a snapshot of a few of the things on our minds as we close out the fourth quarter of the fiscal year.

Special thanks to Vice President of Research Irem Tumer, Director of Transdisciplinary Research Julie Risien and our own Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications Molly Brown for their work on our campaign roadshow event series, “Believe It: An Evening with OSU Faculty.” This series, which will occur in the Bay Area, Bend, Corvallis, Portland and Seattle, provides us an opportunity to showcase exceptional faculty while inspiring our donors to further engage with the campaign and support our students, faculty and programs.

OSUF’s mission by the numbers

I. Inspire investment – Exceeded our fiscal year stretch goal of $180 million

We recently celebrated a gift to the College of Forestry at Oregon State University: 3,110 acres, known as Tualatin Mountain Forest, which will be the college’s 10th forest and its first in the city of Portland.

This gift – valued at $27.3 million and the 5th largest gift in OSU history – pushed our campaign total past the $1.5 billion milestone, the original working goal in our $1.75 billion Believe it fundraising and engagement campaign and helped us reach our stretch goal for the fiscal year. We were delighted to have President Jayathi Murthy, Interim Provost Belinda Batten and Tom DeLuca, the Cheryl Ramberg Ford and Allyn Ford Dean of the College of Forestry, join us for the surprise celebration.

II. Engage our community – Dam Proud Day and Days of Service engage thousands

On Dam Proud Day 2025, over 8,500 donors from all over the world, including 1,500 university employees made gifts for university programs and funds in a celebratory day engaging the entire university community. Led by the OSU Foundation, the annual day of giving set records for the fifth year in a row, inspiring 11,000 gifts totaling more than $3.4 million.

Each year in May for OSU Days of Service, alumni, students and friends join together to make positive change. Learn more about this annual celebration of volunteerism.

III. Steward resources – Our endowment ended our third quarter strong.

Our endowment closed the third quarter with a market value of $951.2 million, down slightly from $965.7 million in February (the highest point in our history).

We are grateful to our new and returning Trustees! Our new Trustees are pictured here in the top row (JJ Cadiz, College of Engineering and College of Liberal Arts, ’97; Bob Grover, College of Agricultural Sciences, ’83; Brent Leback, College of Science, ’84; Laurie Reser, College of Business, ’87; and Tim Sissel, College of Engineering, ’97), with returning Trustees in the bottom row (Cindy Campbell, College of Business, ’77; Steven Jackson, College of Health, ’21; Lavance Northington, College of Liberal Arts, ’88; Cathy Rudd, College of Health, ’78; and Carrie Thompson).

Recapping our annual spring board meetings

The OSU Foundation Board of Trustees held its spring board meeting/annual meeting in Corvallis from May 7-8. There were four thematic goals for the meeting:

I. Have a successful Annual Meeting – This includes approving the budget for the next fiscal year, electing new and returning Trustees, and recognizing and thanking Trustees rolling off the board or going on sabbatical.

II. Engage in a joint session with the Oregon State University governing board – By meeting together, we continue to build important connections and alignment with our boards, an AGB (Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges) best practice. The boards participated in an interactive session led by Kevin A. Dougherty, Ed.D., and Aubrie Piper about OSU Assist Mobile Crisis Response, a student mental health program.

III. Celebrate OSU's faculty – The Faculty Excellence Dinner honored University Distinguished Professor Melissa Cheyney, the university’s highest academic honor, as well as members of prestigious academic societies and the 31 new holders of endowed faculty positions.

IV. Continue to focus on the university’s priorities from Prosperity Widely Shared –

- Student success: In addition to learning about OSU Assist, we heard from student-athletes about their OSU experiences and student leaders from the Oregon State Investment Group (OSIG), which manages close to $5 million of our endowment.

- Research priority area – climate science: We toured the OSU Marine and Geology Repository (OSU MGR), which facilitates research through access and preservation of one of the world’s largest collections of rock, lake and marine sediment samples from around the world - and pole to pole.

Special thanks to OSUF Board Chair Penny Atkins, College of Business, ’79, for her leadership. This was Penny’s last meeting as board chair; she was recognized for her leadership during a period of strategic planning that has set the course for the university’s and the foundation’s future.

We would also like to thank university leaders Jayathi Murthy, president; Belinda Batten, interim provost and executive vice president; Scott Barnes, vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics; Carla Hoʻā, vice president, Finance and Administration; and Rob Odom, vice president for University Relations and Marketing, for participating in our meetings.

The OSU Alumni Association also held is spring Board of Directors meeting in Corvallis on April 24-25. Their meetings included a tour of the OSU Campus Arboretum, a visit to the new Beaver Classic Creamery (located in Withycombe Hall), and discussions on data privacy and communications preferences, OSUAA membership and Portland strategy.

It was a pleasure to celebrate OSU faculty last month at what has become a wonderful university tradition: the Faculty Excellence Dinner. In addition to celebrating Dr. Melissa Cheyney, this year’s University Distinguished Professor, members of scholarly societies and holders of endowed positions were acknowledged. We have added 20 new endowed faculty positions this year, increasing our total to 210. The OSU Foundation is glad to co-sponsor this event each year with the Office of the Provost. Thanks to everyone who joined us.

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: The Oregon State Plan. Here are a few additional highlights:

1. 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 positions. (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 support endowed faculty position funds in support of 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.

2. Oregon State will be a university where every student graduates – “Increasing six-year graduation rates to 80%”

We have created a welcome journey for new members of our Student Success Donor Society who cross the $50K giving milestone to scholarships, fellowships and student success programs. This journey will let new members know that they are part of a community of student champions, provide new opportunities to engage, and inspire them through videos, communications and more.

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

We are pleased to partner with the university on increasing the visibility of its the economic impact study, which demonstrates that the university has a $3.5 billion annual economic impact to the state. We are excited to highlight OSU’s economic impact in a variety of newsletters and publications, social media and at our events for the foreseeable future.

Congratulations to the more than 30 Dammys and OSU Foundation Trustee Challenge winners. View the list of winners and photos from the celebration.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2025 Dammys

Thank you to those who joined us at the President’s Residence on May 27 for the at-capacity annual Dammy Awards, which celebrate what our university and foundation colleagues made possible on this year’s record-breaking Dam Proud Day.

Everyone who gathered under that tent contributed in an integral way to making Dam Proud Day 2025 a success. The day is about more than tallying numbers (although, yes, we inspired extraordinary generosity from Beaver Nation; more than 8,500 donors from all 50 states and 21 countries made 11,000 gifts totaling $3.4 million — and more than 4,000 were first time donors to OSU). It’s about the collaboration from our university-wide colleagues who participate in the day. That’s something to celebrate!

As I said at the event, the OSU Foundation created Dam Proud Day to showcase the amazing people and programs at OSU, engage thousands of folks, near and far, in the life of the university for a 24-hour period - and have FUN. An extra thanks goes to the members of 50+ student clubs, for participating in Dam Proud Day for the first time this year.

Our “culture of gratitude” is as important as our unique culture of philanthropy. Thank you!

Let’s get ready to do it all again next year: Dam Proud Day is back on April 29, 2026.

Beaver Baseball, led by Mitch Canham, ’11, holder of the endowed Pat Casey Head Baseball Coach position, is preparing for this Friday’s NCAA Super Regional this Friday. View the schedule and details.

News

URGENT ACTION NEEDED: For those in Multnomah County, please take a moment to urge Multnomah County commissioners to fund OSU Extension Service in the fiscal year 2026 budget. For those of you outside of the county, please consider sharing with your contacts who live in the county. 

New research forest in Portland means miles of new public trails

$3.5 billion in OSU economic impact fuels economy, providing $797.5 million in value and 3,300 jobs annually 

VIDEO: Watch this video about two of our incredible endowed faculty: Elain Fu, the Warwick Family Faculty Scholar in the College of Engineering, and Jonathan Velez, the Terence Bradshaw Leadership Academy Professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences

Students advocate for a health and recreation center at OSU-Cascades; they have raised nearly $20 million for the facility through student fees

Andone C. Lavery, an expert in applied ocean sciences has been named the inaugural leader of the Gaulke Center, established in the colleges of Engineering and Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences with a $20 million gift from Mike Gaulke, College of Engineering, ’68, and Judy Gaulke, College of Health, ’65

The Hallie E. Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families in the College of Health has received a grant and gift supporting a new lecture series and children’s app

Researchers including Ted A. Paterson, OSU’s L. W. “Bill” Lane Professor of Family Business Management, explore how “leisure crafting” can help you recharge

10 questions with Inara Scott, Gomo Family Professor and senior associate dean in the College of Business, known for her work on generative AI pedagogy and higher education

Expressing appreciation for scholarship support, an OSU Ecampus student has received an national award from an online and professional education association

OSU-Cascades will honor Mark Kralj posthumously at commencement with its Distinguished Service Award

We are grateful to our lead donor Tillamook County Creamery Association and all the donors who made the renovation of Withycombe Hall possible. And, what a reopening it was – ice cream (including a new flavor created in honor of President Jayathi Murthy – CHAIathy Murthy), cheese, honey, wine, beer, cider and more! Thank you to all who attended the celebration of our renovation of Withycombe Hall last Friday, April 11.

Thank you

Later this month, the OSU Foundation will host 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 are larger than us and have 3-5 campaigns under their belts (including Indiana, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Maryland, Rutgers, Minnesota and Utah). I’m excited to host this group and look forward to impressing the heck out of these Big 10 advancement leaders.

I am grateful for all the ways you strengthen Oregon State University. I will write again in July or August to debrief the year and share our goals for FY26. Thank you! Please let me know if you have questions.

Sincerely, 

Shawn L. Scoville
President & CEO

P.S. Check out this “Top 10” list for how you and your constituents can be part of the Believe It campaign and build momentum for OSU.