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Summer 2003

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The progress of the last decade at Villanova has been remarkable. New and updated programs and facilities draw increasingly selective incoming classes—all developments that resulted directly from substantial commitments of support from alumni, family and friends to the University’s endowment.

Not coincidently, that decade of progress began with the first endowed chair at Villanova. December 2002 marked the 10-year anniversary of the inauguration of The Josephine C. Connelly Endowed Chair in Christian Theology, which was established through a gift from one of the University’s most generous benefactors, The Connelly Foundation. It was soon followed by the David R. Cook Endowed Chair in Philosophy. These two gifts, each of $1 million, helped start The Villanova Campaign and were joined by nine additional gifts to endow chairs during that landmark fund raising effort (see accompanying table).

Endowed chairs are vital because over the past 10 years, the marketplace for scholarly leadership has become increasingly competitive. Endowed chairs have the power to attract and reward the best faculty in the nation. Universities that have large endowments attract more such faculty.

The 11 endowed chairs currently established at Villanova have had immediate benefits: Each holder has used the additional resources provided by the endowment to invest more time in activities such as intensive small group instruction, research into best practices in teaching, publishing scholarly works that maintain and build Villanova’s national reputation, and performing community service projects.

None of these activities would have happened without the endowments, and all of them create a momentum that has a long-term benefit: They create a scholarly community with a growing national reputation that attracts additional leading educators and top students. In this manner, the benefits compound and build for future generations of Villanova students, and the qualities that Villanovans value play an ever greater part in the world.

In addition to these important benefits, the endowed chair creates a perpetual tribute to the donor’s vision for academic excellence and to his or her close relationship with Villanova.

The 11 chairs in the accompanying table were established by donors who contributed to The Villanova Campaign, which ended in 1997. As ambitious and successful as that campaign was, the current capital campaign, Transforming Minds and Hearts: The Campaign for Villanova, hopes to be even more successful. The Campaign contains opportunities for 12 new endowed chairs as well as several endowed deanships and professorships (see accompanying table). These are areas of support that were determined by thorough and ongoing strategic planning and consultation with donors.

As the third year of the Campaign’s quiet phase begins, Villanovans are once again demonstrating that educational leadership is something they value. Commitments from this Campaign will continue to ensure that the University will attract and retain the best teachers and provide students with resources that will aid their success in the classroom and beyond.