Dear university colleague:

Following commencement this past weekend, I am reflecting on the 2025-26 academic year. Our fundraising results are looking very strong, and we are laser-focused on reaching the $200M milestone again this year. If we achieve this, it will be the third year in a row and the fourth time in our history. We are on it!

I am grateful to you – our university leaders, including our head coaches and holders of endowed faculty positions – for the many ways we, together, have advanced Oregon State University’s mission this year. While this update focuses on Q4 progress, I will write again this summer to debrief the full year and share our goals for FY27.

Congratulations to OSU’s 8,700 newest alumni! See Oregon State University's recent LinkedIn post for fun facts about the Class of 2026, and the OSU Foundation's post for a short video of the special day.

Exciting news: Recognition of OSU’s fundraising success, $400 million for student success, $48M Valley Challenge for Student-Athletes and a new Field Sports Building

Our last quarter of the year has included a lot of exciting milestones and announcements:

• Recognition: Our professional association, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), recognized the OSU Foundation for our fundraising success by inviting us to join a group of the world’s top-performing university advancement programs. Membership is determined by an objective review of fundraising results, based on a five-year rolling average of cash gifts reported through the Voluntary Support of Education survey. This recognition, along with the $1B+ market value of our endowment, provides tangible evidence of OSU’s momentum.
  
  
• Student Success: We celebrated that Oregon State University surpassed $400M toward our $500M fundraising goal for student success, the largest goal within the Believe It campaign. This total includes over $18M for the Finish in Four initiative, the university’s priority scholarship program designed specifically to support its “Every Student Graduates” goal in the university’s strategic plan, Prosperity Widely Shared, and our aim to achieve an 80% graduation rate.
  
  
• OSU Athletics: We announced the $48M Valley Challenge for Student-Athletes and the $25M Field Sports Building. The Valley Challenge is made possible by a generous $24M commitment from the Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation and must be matched through donor gifts. All Valley Challenge funds are dedicated to revenue sharing — essential to supporting our coaches and allowing them to recruit and retain competitive student-athletes. The Field Sports Building, made possible by 10 donor households plus an $11M lead gift from an anonymous donor, will support 150 student-athletes in softball, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s cross country and women’s track and field. Both of these investments underscore Beaver Nation’s exciting momentum for the future of our athletics programs.

Each year, the Dammy Awards recognize outstanding Dam Proud Day collaborators who shine a bright light on the university people and programs who make us so proud. Their creativity – mixed with a healthy dose of competitiveness – makes our giving day fun and multiplies our collective impact. View the list of winners and photos from the celebration.

OSUF’s mission by the numbers

I. Inspire investment – $200M is within our reach as we push toward June 30

At the end of May, donors had given $182.8M. This is 114% of our $160M baseline fundraising goal, 93.7% of our $195M stretch goal and about $20M ahead of our five-year average for end of May.

This puts our Believe It campaign total at $1.72B, or 98.2% (!) of our original (that’s a hint…) campaign goal of $1.75B.

II. Engage our community – Dam Proud Day rallies thousands

One of our top engagement opportunities of the year, Dam Proud Day 2026 inspired 8,350 donors to make over 12,400 gifts totaling $4.1M in 24 hours. This record-breaking success would not be possible without the passion and hard work of OSU colleagues and students from every part of the university.

III. Steward resources – Our endowment’s market value is at a record high

Our endowment market value was $1.1B at the end of April, the most recent data available. The endowment crossed $1B for the first time in June 2025 and has grown steadily since, thanks to generous gifts from our donors and the guidance of our Investment Committee and outsourced CIO Cerity.

We were proud to co-sponsor the Faculty Excellence Dinner in May with the Office of the Provost. At this event, we congratulated the new University Distinguished Professors Jack Barth and Daniel Cox (pictured), 37 new holders of donor-funded named and endowed faculty positions, and faculty recognized by prestigious academic societies for their scholarly contributions.

Implementing our strategic plans

As you can infer from this update, there are many ways the OSU Foundation and the Believe It campaign directly support 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”

Big discoveries require excellent faculty. We now have 210+ endowed position funds supporting the recruitment and retention of excellent faculty across all colleges, totaling $248M+ in market value. More than 80 of these funds have been created since 2015.

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

While philanthropy is not the only way to advance student success, donors make an enormous difference. Progress is both meaningful and measurable:

• 1,736 endowed scholarship funds with a market value of $349M (that’s more than a third of our endowment);
• 4,986 students benefited from donor-funded scholarships last year;
• And, 50% of OSU students who graduate have no debt.

This fall, the university will award 100 Finish in Four scholarships to Oregon students with financial need.

III. 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 delighted to welcome Ruben Rathnasingham, OSU’s inaugural executive director of the Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex, to our community. He recently joined our all-staff meeting and shared his vision for the Huang Complex and how the research it will support can make a difference at OSU, in our state and beyond.

We also launched the OSU Food and Beverage Industry Network, a group of alumni, parents and friends engaged in this business community, one of the university’s four priority business sectors. In addition to bringing together a group of like-minded leaders, the network will help students seeking careers in this sector.

The FY27 Executive Committee includes Past Chair Penny Atkins, ’79; Board Chair Dave Underriner, ’81; Chair-Elect Patty Bedient, ’75; Ken Austin, ’76; Knute Buehler, ’86; Rebecca Camden, ’17 (Hon. alum.); Cindy Campbell, ’77; Kim Casale, ’83; Lori Elkins, M.S. ’03; Dick Evans, ’69; Neil Fernando, ’97; John Gilleland, ’78; Keith Leavitt, ’88; Tom Nakano, ’89; Mary Power, ’90; Carrie Thompson; Jessica Wolfer, ’10, M.S. ’11.

Recapping our annual board meeting

The OSU Foundation Board of Trustees’ annual meeting took place in Corvallis from May 6-7.

There were three thematic goals for the meeting:

1. Have a successful annual meeting.

This included approving budgets for the fiscal year ahead, electing new and returning Trustees, and recognizing and thanking Trustees rolling off the Executive Committee or going on sabbatical.

2. Focus on the Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex/AI+ and its opportunities for OSU and the state of Oregon.

This included a tour of the Huang Complex construction site followed by lunch with robotics doctoral students.

3. Have a joint session with the university governing board and jointly celebrate faculty achievement at the annual Faculty Excellence Dinner.

Special thanks to Board Chair Dave Underriner, ’81, for his leadership. I would also like to thank university leaders for participating in our meetings: Jayathi Murthy, president; Roy Haggerty, provost and executive vice president; Scott Barnes, vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics; and Carla Hoʻā, vice president, finance and administration. Shout-out to Libby Ramirez, Belinda Batten and Dustin Sievers for help with the Huang Complex visit and to Kagan Tumer for his coordination of the robotics student panel. Thank you as well to Brian Gibbons, the Stirek Associate Professor of Finance — whose position is funded by Honorary Trustee and Believe It campaign co-chair John Stirek, ’82, and his wife, Kate Stirek, ’83 — for his work with the Oregon State University Investment Group.

VIDEO: Meet two of OSU’s endowed faculty position holders, René Zamora-Cristales, the Richard Strachan Chair in Forest Operations Management, and Yamini Chalam, the Otteman Brant Faculty Fellow in Small Animal Medicine.

News

Unique Finish in Four support for Yamhill County students expands access, flexibility and pathways to graduation.

A scholarship that says thank you, Dad, from Bob Jossis, College of Engineering ’70, and Cathy Jossis.

Announcing our 2026 Changemakers: alumni who make a transformative impact on their communities and fields.

A student research showcase in the College of Science brought together students supported by the Wei Family Private Foundation.

What began with childhood curiosity for Thomas Webb, College of Science ’68, has become lifelong giving.

A Q&A on healthy aging with Suzanne Segerstrom, the Jo Anne Leonard Petersen Chair in Gerontology and Family Studies in the College of Health.

Catching up with Emily and Jarvis Caffrey, College of Engineering Ph.D. graduates and ARCS Oregon Scholar alumni.

A collaborative study from the Gary R. Carlson, MD, College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Pharmacy and supported by Canine Cancer Alliance and the National Institutes of Health connects dogs’ cancer survival with which microorganisms live in their gut.

Supported by Ever Fresh Fruit, OSU’s student ice cream contest in the College of Agricultural Sciences gets bigger and bolder.

An experiential learning scholarship helped an Honors student study ocean science in Wales.

Members of our Mighty Beavers group – the 2,000 OSU employees who are also university alumni – gathered in the Dixie Luana Wooton Kenney Garden at the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts on June 2 for an end-of-the-year picnic. Mighty Beavers aren’t just culture carriers, ambassadors and advocates – more than a third of all employee donors to the university this academic year were Mighty Beavers. This year, we also saw an 11% increase in Mighty Beaver donors! Thank you!

Thank you

Thank you for all the ways you strengthen Oregon State University, and happy end to the academic year! I am excited to start a new fiscal year in a couple weeks and continue to build on the momentum of a highly successful FY26.

Let me know if you have questions. Best wishes for a great summer!

Sincerely, 

Shawn L. Scoville
President & CEO

P.S. I’m pleased to share that my Foundation colleagues achieved 100% participation in giving once again this fiscal year, a tradition we have honored since 2020.

Have you made your gift to OSU yet this year?

There’s still time to join us; our fiscal year ends on June 30. If you're not sure what to support, consider Finish in Four, the Valley Challenge for Student-Athletes or the fund that matters most to you. Gifts of all sizes are appreciated and make a difference.