Stanford's School of Humanities and Sciences breaks $100 million mark in Hewlett Challenge
The Hewlett Challenge, a fundraising campaign benefiting the School of Humanities and Sciences (H&S), has surpassed $100 million in new gifts and pledges, according to school officials. In addition, H&S has received Hewlett Challenge matching funds of $98.9 million, thus increasing its endowment by nearly $200 million.
"This is a truly important milestone," said Sharon R. Long, the Vernon R. and Lysbeth Warren Anderson Dean of Humanities and Sciences. "We could not be happier, or more grateful, to the Hewlett Foundation and to our many generous donors for making such a significant, long-term investment in Stanford and the School of Humanities and Sciences."
In 2001, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation created the Hewlett Challenge with a gift of $300 million to H&S. (At the same time, the foundation also gave $100 million to the university's Campaign for Undergraduate Education.) The gift to H&S aims to bolster the school's endowment for future generations of scholars and students and to strengthen key areas in the school.
The $100,529,895 in new gifts and pledges is earmarked to support dozens of professorships, directorships, graduate fellowships, and new or existing academic programs. Existing areas benefiting from the Hewlett Challenge include the Overseas Studies Program, the Institute for Research on Women and Gender and the Archaeology Program. Among the new programs created with Hewlett Challenge matching funds are the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Science and Technology and the International, Comparative and Area Studies Division, which includes the new Islamic Studies program and the France-Stanford Center for Interdisciplinary Studies. In addition, some unrestricted gifts of endowment have been matched to offer flexibility to the school and its leadership to direct the funds where they are needed most.
"This gift was made in the spirit of my father's approach to philanthropy," said Walter Hewlett, chairman of the board of the Hewlett Foundation. "He used his wealth to help others solve problems, and the H&S gift was designed with that approach in mind. We are pleased to be able to provide financial leverage to the School of Humanities and Sciences to achieve long-term financial stability, and we hope that the Hewlett gift will strengthen the school for many years to come."
While the $100 million mark is an important threshold to cross, it is only the first step, according to Long. By 2009, H&S seeks to double the Hewlett gift, to $600 million, by continuing to build core endowment support for areas such as professorships, faculty scholars, graduate fellowships and strategically identified program areas. Further endowed support could help to create funds for innovation and faculty recruitment, and launch new initiatives, such as Film Studies and the Program for Post-Doctoral Fellows in Physical and Mathematical Sciences.
Endowment gifts provide -- in perpetuity -- a reliable income stream for the school, as the interest earned on the endowed gift, not the principal, is used to support the school's faculty, students and programs. Currently, endowment income represents 22 percent of the school's funding.
The progress in raising endowment support for H&S through the Hewlett Challenge brings the school closer to fulfilling another important aspect of the challenge, which is to honor the memory of William Hewlett, co-founder of the Hewlett-Packard Co.
"This gift honors my [late] father," said Walter Hewlett at the announcement of the foundation's gift to Stanford and H&S in 2001. "It honors his lifetime of philanthropy, his lifelong devotion to Stanford and his passionate belief in the value of a liberal arts education. By helping Stanford fulfill its promise -- namely, increasing knowledge and helping young people -- we honor his wishes."
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