Our Priorities
Through the extension of Delaware First: The Campaign for the University of Delaware, we continue to boldly seek to engage thousands of individuals to help shape UD’s future and raise funds to transform the University’s people, places and programs.
As we strive to redefine student success with a holistic approach and empower Blue Hens to invent tomorrow with solutions to grand challenges, we invite you to stay engaged, connect with the UD community and support causes that mean the most to you through support of University students, faculty, research and campus transformation.
These initiatives represent the present and future of the University of Delaware:
Redefining Student Success: Experiential Learning Across Disciplines
From health and wellbeing and interdisciplinary academics to professional development and a central hub for student programs, a multi-faceted approach to the student experience is crucial. Delaware First donors will help ensure talented, eligible students have access to the UD quality education—creating greater social mobility—and that all Blue Hens are armed with the necessary knowledge, skills and tools to continue their success well beyond graduation.
Inventing Tomorrow: Driving Solutions to Grand Challenges
UD is already revolutionizing problem-solving by leveraging expertise across disciplines, innovating with industry partners and creating unique collaborative experiences. Funding through the extended Campaign will empower faculty and students to make impactful discoveries today while preparing them to transform the world tomorrow.
Student & Faculty Support
Students and faculty are the heart of UD. Recruitment and retention of these talented scholars is paramount to the success of our institution. Scholarships, experiential learning and endowed support help make that possible.
Scholarships
Philanthropic support to establish new endowed scholarships or support existing ones contributes to a sustainable source of funding, which helps UD fulfill its mission of providing a world-class education for all students.
Experiential Learning
The generosity of donors will also help enhance students’ academic experience with experiential opportunities that empower them to develop skills outside of the classroom. Internships, study abroad programs, hands-on research and more encourage students to develop professionalism, critical analysis and decision-making skills.
Professorships
Endowed professorships and other faculty support, including professional development opportunities and research funding, are powerful recruitment and retention tools for attracting and retaining established thought leaders and rising talent who will propel our institution forward.
ATHLETICS FACILITIES
Athletics is the front porch of our University, connecting people and sharing UD spirit throughout the local and national communities. As part of Delaware First, we embarked on a bold $60 million project to Build Our Home, renovating Delaware Stadium and building a brand new, state-of-the-art Athletic Center for our student-athletes. Creating the spaces needed to welcome the Blue Hens of today and tomorrow – spaces where we prepare leaders and build champions.
Whitney Athletic Center
As an integrated hub for training and academics, this one-stop shop is a cutting-edge facility that brings health and wellness, academic resources, counseling services and training equipment and more all under one roof. The Center opened in fall 2020 thanks to generous donor support, including a lead gift of $10 million from Board of Trustees member Kenneth C. Whitney ’80 and, his wife, Elizabeth.
Delaware Stadium Renovations
Every ticketholder, every supporter and every fan is a member of this Blue Hen family. Since the first game was held in Delaware Stadium in 1952, this iconic field has seen amazing moments and created countless memories. Our proud history deserves this moment to enhance the fan experience with upgraded seating, new club spaces, an enhanced press box and more.
The Biden School
Established in 1961 and named for the University’s most distinguished alumnus in 2018, the Biden School seeks to inspire, educate and empower the next generation of leaders so that they are able to reach across the growing divides and work together toward policy solutions.
Through Delaware First: the Campaign for the University of Delaware, we seek to provide student scholarships, expanded programming and a home in which the Biden School can raise up the student leaders who will one day shape a future of peace and progress.
Student Success
Despite the monumental scale of the challenges we face as a nation, our students at the Biden School are demonstrating courage, compassion and a desire to make a difference.
But, during these difficult times, our students desperately need resources in order to be able to seize the moment. With your generous financial support, the Biden School can offer undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships and life-changing experiential learning opportunities like paid internships.
Expanded Programming
Presidential schools of public policy are driven by powerful and impactful programming. With the generosity of donors, the Biden School will be able to expand its intellectual capacity by strategically hiring up to 16 new faculty members from a diverse range of public policy disciplines and political ideologies that will offer our students unique perspectives on the most pressing policy issues.
Biden Hall
In order to achieve our bold mission and amplify the impact of social sciences and public policy, the Biden School needs a home, Biden Hall, which will provide an interdisciplinary intellectual hub that supports interaction, reflection, discovery and solutions to societal challenges.
Graduate Education
Graduate education is a catalyst, sparking change in individuals, industries and institutions. With the Graduate College in place, our University is uniquely poised to make even greater strides in shaping graduate education and elevating the University of Delaware to greater prominence.
A Blueprint for Excellence
The Graduate College is key to cultivating the dynamic spirit and approaches of graduate students and advancing UD’s contributions to research, scholarship, innovation and discovery. Donor support will help to:
- enhance the academic excellence of all graduate-level programming
- prepare students for a wide range of careers
- maintain 21st century best practices in diversity recruitment, retention, mentoring, timely graduation and student success
- facilitate the development of high-value interdisciplinary programs
Investing in Doctoral Education
To recruit and retain exceptionally talented doctoral students, UD needs donor support in order to offer its top doctoral applicants:
- Competitive five-year, 12-month funding packages
- Professional development funding for research, conferences, training and internships
INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP
As the University continues to bring together innovators, great minds and relentless problem-solvers to address the grand challenges of today and tomorrow, we look to our UD community for philanthropic support that will provide greater resources and opportunities.
Biopharmaceutical Sciences Advancements
With the 200,000-square-foot Ammon Pinizzotto Biopharmaceutical Innovation Center (APBio Center) now open, the University has the state-of-the-art facility and infrastructure to continue to grow and evolve biopharmaceutical research, workforce training and academics.
The APBio Center is home to the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL). In collaboration with 150 NIIMBL partners, UD is leveraging its expertise in chemical engineering, biomedical engineering and life sciences to help researchers and manufacturers deliver life-saving medicines to the people who need them the most—those suffering from cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disorders and viral infections.
From Finding Jobs to Creating Jobs
More than 1,000 students from across disciplines participate in Horn Entrepreneurship at UD. From annual start-up funding competitions to a four-year Delaware Innovation Fellows program, the initiative offers hands-on opportunities to prepare students to launch start-ups, foster innovation within established companies and develop sustainable solutions to 21st-century challenges.
Expanding these initiatives and creating new opportunities, with donor support, will give our students the necessary tools to become the entrepreneurial leaders of tomorrow.
A STAR in the UD Crown
In 2018, the 10-story Tower at STAR opened with the College of Health Sciences occupying two-thirds of the 120,000-square-foot tower, and housing virtual reality rooms and modern research labs, expanded clinical space for primary care and therapies and mental health and nutrition services. Philanthropic support will create new, collaborative opportunities, provide innovative spaces and add resources for research and learning equipment to train the next generation of healthcare workers.
COLLEGES
Our diverse colleges provide opportunities to succeed. Expanded resources and programs do even more. From inspiring performances, creative problem solving and environmental solutions to innovative business methods, intricate projects and cutting-edge approaches, the learning in UD’s nine colleges is unparalleled.
Support for the colleges, departments and programs makes a meaningful impact on our students’ experiences and expands our reach into the world beyond campus.
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration
College of Engineering
College of Earth, Ocean and Environment
College of Arts and Sciences
College of Health Sciences
Graduate College
Honors College
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Engagement
A vibrant, engaged community of alumni, friends, parents, faculty and staff is vital to helping our students succeed, and our alumni achieve even greater heights. Our engagement priorities are focused on increasing the number of constituents invested in the University’s present and future to achieve that goal.
Ambassadors
Through board roles, volunteering, advising and more, ambassadors share their time and expertise, greatly enhancing the experiences of students, faculty and alumni and creating new opportunities for them.
Delaware Diamonds Society Donors
Delaware Diamonds Society recognizes annual donors at the leadership level, those whose level of commitment provides ongoing support for our students, faculty, athletics and more.
Carillon Circle Members
Carillon Circle members leave a planned legacy gift to benefit UD through their estates. This forward-thinking investment provides funding for the initiatives of tomorrow.
Contributors
By increasing the number of Blue Hens that support UD, we are better able to meet the growing needs of our students and fund the essential initiatives that shape the University’s future.
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