Dear university colleague:
The Corvallis campus is once again buzzing with the return of students, and the trees have already started to show their fall colors. To me, all feels right again. I miss the energy of the students during the summer; yes, it is harder to find a place to park but it’s not that hard.
Again this year, we welcomed (a record number of?!) first-year undergraduate students in Corvallis. This is impressive given that the “demographic cliff” is real, and it is impacting other universities in the state. It seems we have the degrees and campus experience students want. Thank you all for your role in making OSU, well, O…S…U….
In an effort to keep you – our university leaders, including our head coaches and endowed faculty position holders – apprised of the Foundation’s activities, this newsletter will both reflect on our successes in fiscal year 2026 (FY26) and provide a preview for what we will accomplish together this academic year.
Thank you to all OSU and OSU Foundation employees who personally support the university with your philanthropy – a group we fondly call OSU Loyal. In FY26, every member of the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees, OSU Alumni Association Board of Directors, Beaver Caucus Board of Directors, University Cabinet and Provost’s Council AND the entire staff of the OSU Foundation personally made gifts to support what they most care about at OSU.
OSUF’s mission by the numbers
I. Inspire investment
- Thanks to the generosity of our donors, FY26 marked the third year in a row we have crossed the $200M milestone and the fourth year in our history. It was also a landmark year for donor support of OSU Athletics, with $62M committed.
- In addition, our “cash” number, as measured by the Voluntary Support of Education Survey, totaled $165.9M, making FY26 the third-best year ever in cash.
- The Believe It campaign total reached 1.74B on June 30, 2026.
- And this year is off to a great start: As of September 30, 2026, donors have made gifts totaling $75.8M toward our baseline goal of $169M and our stretch goal of $206M. This total includes a $20M commitment, which will be announced later this year.
II. Engage our community
- We welcomed a record 8,785 new alumni following June’s commencement!
- In March, Mamta Chowdhury began a new role at the OSU Foundation as our inaugural director of volunteer engagement: a role that reflects the Foundation’s commitment to connecting volunteers in meaningful ways to the university. On October 16, more than 250 folks will gather for the sold-out Fourth Annual OSU Volunteer Leadership Summit. However, if interested, you may join us virtually.
III. Steward resources
- The market value of the endowment grew by more than $150M in FY26 to $1.15B, its highest total in our history.
- We are grateful for our outsourced CIO, Cerity, and the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees’ Investment Committee for their oversight of our endowment.
See our “year in review” LinkedIn post for more milestones.
On August 20, we gathered for an OSU Pop-Up Dinner at the Food Innovation Center to celebrate Oregon’s bounty and the people and partnerships behind it. Featured companies included Bob’s Red Mill, Bornstein Seafoods, Jacobsen Salt Co., KFK Seasonings, Oregon Beef Council, Oregon Hazelnut Commission, Oregon Potato Commission, Pacific Coast Fresh Company, Painted Hills Natural Beef, Reser’s Fine Foods, Tillamook County Creamery Association, Amza Superfoods, The Barreled Bee, Cottage Hill Dairy, Great Life by Lucinda, Honeybee Lemonade, Marshall’s Haute Sauce, Sao Noi and Tre-Fin Foods. Thank you to Staci Simonich, MBA ’20, the Reub Long Professor and dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, and Sarah Masoni from the Food Innovation Center for speaking.
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”
As of June 30, we have 217 endowed position funds supporting the recruitment and retention of excellent faculty across all colleges, totaling nearly $275M in market value. More than 40% of the endowed faculty position funds have a market value of $1M or more. And, 84 of these funds have been created during the Believe It campaign.
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. In FY26, we celebrated that Oregon State University surpassed $400M toward our $500M fundraising goal for student success, the largest goal in the Believe It campaign. As of June 30, that total included over $18.5M for the Finish in Four initiative, the university’s priority scholarship program designed specifically to support its “Every Student Graduates” goal in the Prosperity Widely Shared plan.
We are especially proud that more than 5,000 students at OSU benefit from donor-funded scholarships.
III. Oregon State will be a university that fuels a thriving world in every dimension – “Become a force for economic growth in our state”
As we continue to generate enthusiasm for the Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex in advance of its grand opening in spring 2027, we have been delighted to feature Ruben Rathnasingham, its inaugural executive director, in our meetings and events. Over the spring and summer, he joined us for our all-staff meeting and the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees’ July Executive Committee Retreat. Next up, he will join us for a sold-out alumni and donor reception in Washington, D.C., on October 6, and at our board meetings the following week.
In a candid and wide-ranging conversation, I opened the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees’ Executive Committee Retreat with a Q&A with President Jayathi Murthy. We discussed the university’s biggest opportunities and priorities, including FAST’s $160M National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine Award, OSU’s long-term ambitions, including membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU), the transformative potential of the Huang Complex, the importance of having a “best in class” enrollment management program, the many reasons why achieving an 80% graduation rate matters, higher education policy in Oregon and the opportunity presented by the new Pac-12.
Recapping our Executive Committee Retreat
The Foundation’s annual Board of Trustees’ Executive Committee Retreat took place in Newberg from July 15–17.
Organized around the theme “Contemplating the Future: The Forces Shaping Oregon State University and Higher Education,” our Executive Committee engaged in conversations with university leaders, industry partners and higher education experts (including Futurist Bryan Alexander) and examined the trends, challenges and opportunities that will influence Oregon State and higher education in the years ahead. It was wonderful to have the Executive Committee of the OSU Alumni Association’s Board of Directors join us for these discussions as well. The discussions helped sharpen how the Foundation can best support the university through our FY27 board meetings.
In FY26, donors gave $62M to OSU Athletics, reaching every corner of OSU’s athletic program and signaling strong confidence as we enter the new era of the Pac-12 Conference. This includes the new $25M Tamara Anne Valley Field Sports Building that will support five field sports and a $15M gift to expand Goss Stadium. We also announced the $48M Valley Challenge for Student-Athletes, a call to Beaver Nation to join together to support revenue sharing for student-athletes. Already this fiscal year, athletics fundraising momentum has continued with the announcement of a second endowed position fund for Oregon State Baseball.
Foundation Goals for FY27
The Foundation organizes its annual plan each year around a core set of Vital Few Goals, designed to advance our strategic plan.
Priorities for the year ahead include:
- Raise between $169 million (five-year average –10%, baseline goal) and $206 million (five-year average +10%, stretch goal).
- Advance year 10 of the Believe It campaign and finalize the campaign endgame.
- Partner with university leaders to engage 36,000-40,000 unique participants and 3,600-4,000 unique volunteers in advancing OSU priorities.
- Advance the university’s 10-year vision for excellence through intentional prioritization of specific philanthropic opportunities and through dedicated marketing and communications strategies
- Continue the philanthropic momentum to position OSU Athletics for success at the highest level.
- Adopt AI at an enterprise level while modernizing the Foundation’s technology infrastructure and elevating the donor and development officer experience.
- Grow as a Gallup organization with intentional investment in our people and culture.
Check out our fall 2026 issue of the Oregon Stater, OSU’s award-winning alumni magazine, for exceptional storytelling. This issue features stories about the Corvallis campus arboretum, the reconstructed blue whale skeleton at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, how solar energy and farming can work together, the new Pac-12 and the search for the Earth’s oldest ice.
News
Global semiconductor leader Analog Devices, Inc., has established an endowed chair in microelectronics in the College of Engineering.
TIME named the OSU Advantage Accelerator among the nation’s Top 25 incubators and accelerators for 2026.
The Huang Complex will be the first mass timber lab building on the West Coast.
One of the first groups preparing to use OSU’s new supercomputer generates detailed maps and datasets used across the nation.
An endowment in the College of Health creates enduring support for disability research and practice.
In the College of Forestry, Giustina Professor of Forest Management Temesgen Hailemariam is advancing work to use AI and digital twin forests to transform forest management.
OSU hosted an international child well-being conference this summer; one of its board members is David Rothwell, associate professor in the College of Health and the Barbara E. Knudson Endowed Chair in Family Policy.
How Boeing’s enduring partnership with Oregon State Engineering shapes the next generation of innovators.
Remembering James E. Coleman, ’58, OSU Foundation Lifetime Trustee who led the world’s largest wine company.
“Mighty Beaver” alumni employees embody OSU’s community-minded school spirit.
Learn about this year’s Black and Orange Award honorees and join us at the celebration on October 15 at the CH2M HILL Alumni Center. (Today, October 1, is the last day to register.) This year’s honorees include: Patricia Valian Reser, ’60, ’19 (Hon. Ph.D.); Tamara A. Valley; Jon DeVaan, ’85, ’11 (Hon. Ph.D.); Gayle Fitzpatrick, ’78; Jon Bettendorf, ’88; Morgan Stosic, ’19; Treasure Valley Regional Network; Victoria Nguyen, ’95, MAIS ’06; and Joyce Braden Harris, ’73. Please also join us in celebrating them on social media!
Thank you
I am grateful for all the ways you strengthen Oregon State University, and I hope the academic year is off to a great start. I am excited to build on last year’s success.
Let me know if you have questions. Best wishes for a great fall quarter.
Sincerely,
Shawn L. Scoville
President & CEO
