2025-2026 Report on Philanthropy
This was a remarkable year for the University of Delaware, with $114,320,129 raised, and it happened because of you.
The impact is never abstract. It's a specific student who gets to thrive because of opportunity and resources. It’s a researcher who gets to keep going because they’re funded. Behind every number and story in this report is a person who believed in UD, and a person whose life is different because of it.
More than anything, your support represents a belief that the story isn't over. That there is still more we can do, and more we can become together. As UD welcomes a new era of leadership and looks toward ambitious goals ahead, one thing is certain: the future of this University will be written by the people who care about it.
Thank you for showing up for UD this year, and for everything your generosity made possible. The journey started with you, and it continues with you.
Giving By the numbers
The numbers tell a story. Here's a look at what our community made possible together this year.
$ 114,320,129 raised
21,935
DONORS
12,800
GIFTS UNDER $100
17
GIFTS OVER $1M
$751,217
DONATED BY FACULTY & STAFF
$35,458,624
DONATED BY ALUMNI
$1,299,707
DONATED BY PARENTS
WHAT YOUR GENEROSITY BUILT
Generosity takes many forms. Your giving provided opportunities for students and advanced discovery that changes lives. It’s proof that every gift, of any size, makes a difference.
OPPORTUNITY | DISCOVERY | COMMUNITY
A New Era for Innovation
This year, UD established the Neil Book School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a new school within the Lerner College built to help students from all fields of study turn their bold ideas into ventures that change the world. It’s made possible by a landmark gift from alumnus Neil Book and his wife, Sharon, and will expand access to mentorship and hands-on experience for the next generation of problem solvers. It's a future that took shape because someone believed in it.
"There is no stronger testament to the power of education than an alumnus giving back to their alma mater to shape opportunities for generations to come."
— Oliver Yao,
Dean, Lerner College
Paying it Forward
The Jennifer A. Mangels '90 Scholarship, the first in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, awarded its first two recipients this past year. For senior Hannah Marmor, it meant she could stay involved in the activities shaping her future instead of taking on another job to make ends meet. Mentorship made Mangels who she is, and now her generosity is doing the same for the next generation of Blue Hens.
"Any scholarship or support funds that we have help students engage in those other elements of the program. The ability to do things beyond the structure of the classroom gives them that opportunity to find what they’re good at, what they enjoy."
— Rob West,
Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
A Gift That Opens Doors for Lifelong Learners
Trudie Thompson found something at UD's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) in Kent-Sussex that she wanted to sustain for decades to come: a community of teachers, learners and friends. Her $1 million bequest will establish a permanent endowment supporting OLLI Kent-Sussex programming far into the future. And she chose to name it not for herself but for Sally Cole, the longtime manager who helped build the program. It's a reminder that the most generous gifts open doors you may never walk through yourself, but someone always will, because of you.
"This gift speaks to the strength of what we created together—not just programs, but possibilities. It ensures that the energy, innovation and heart we poured into OLLI will continue to shape its future."
— Sally Cole,
Former Manager, OLLI Kent-Sussex
New Discoveries, Near and Far
For UD graduate students, the most meaningful research often means traveling far from campus, but the cost can put it out of reach. Professor David Redlawsk and his wife, Aletia Morgan, created a fund to open that door. The David P. Redlawsk and Aletia H. Morgan Research Fund helps political science and international relations students pursue work that too often goes unfunded. This year, it sent doctoral student Danbi Lee, AS27PhD, to Japan and Korea to sit with atomic bomb survivors and preserve stories that the world is at risk of losing. It was an opportunity for a student to chase the questions that matter most.
"These experiences greatly strengthened my dissertation and allowed me to engage directly with voices, communities and materials that are central to my work."
— Danbi Lee, AS27PhD
A Legacy Advancing the Fight Against Alzheimer’s
During his lifetime, the late Paul H. Boerger established a fund at the Delaware Community Foundation (DCF) that would go on to make an extraordinary difference. This year, that foresight delivered a transformational $13.1 million gift to UD, one of the largest for Alzheimer's research in state history. Made through the DCF, it will expand Delaware's largest brain-aging study, bring a state-of-the-art MRI to STAR Campus and advance a first-of-its-kind blood test that could detect the disease years earlier. Mr. Boerger never saw all that his gift would set in motion, but countless families will, because of him, and because of givers like you.
"The research supported by this grant will help UD researchers come ever-closer to uncovering life-improving and life-saving solutions."
— Stuart Comstock-Gay,
Delaware Community Foundation
Strength in Numbers, Strength in Science
When Jodi and Chris Cianci saw how exercise eased Jodi's Parkinson's symptoms, they brought that hope to UD. The research their earlier giving helped launch is thriving today. Professor Chris Knight's work has grown into programs like Speed Geezer, where patients build strength and community at once. And this year, the Maggie E. Neumann Health Sciences Research Fund, which supports a new UD research project each year, powered Professor Roxana Burciu's pioneering brain imaging. Together, these donors turned personal experience into momentum for an entire field. For the Delaware families living with Parkinson's, that progress means better days.
"Thanks to generous funding, UD is a hub for making real progress against Parkinson’s."
— Roxana Burciu, co-director of UD’s Motor Neuroscience and Neuroimaging Lab
and associate professor of kinesiology and applied physiology
The Power of Collective Giving
Some of the year’s most powerful moments happened when Blue Hens gave together. On I Heart UD Giving Day, our flagship day of giving, more than 6,000 donors came together to raise over $1.14 million for 379 different causes, from athletics and music to research labs and agriculture. On GivingTuesday, the community joined a worldwide day of generosity and made it their own. More than 2,500 donors gave over $350,000 to hundreds of causes across campus, from a swimming and diving team's training trip to a fund honoring a beloved late professor. Two days, thousands of gifts and one community showing up to give back. That’s what collective giving looks like, and it happens because of you.
YOU BROUGHT THE ENERGY
Impact isn’t only measured in dollars. It’s also the pride of showing up for the place that helped shape you.
SPIRIT | BELONGING | CONNECTION | MOMENTUM
You Showed Up, Everywhere
This year marked the start of a new era for Blue Hen athletics. UD officially joined Conference USA (CUSA) and stepped onto a national stage that stretches from Florida to New Mexico. A new conference meant new places to play, and Blue Hens answered the call, gathering at tailgates from Boulder to Wake Forest to cheer the team on. More than 1,000 fans turned out across the season’s tailgates, which shows that it may be a new conference, but it’s the same Delaware spirit.
You Came Home
Homecoming 2025 drew more than 1,800 Blue Hens and friends back to campus, including nearly 1,200 alumni returning to the place that shaped them. Generations reunited across tailgates and reunions, with the strongest turnout from the classes of the 2020s and the 1990s, recent grads and longtime Blue Hens side by side. Among the highlights was a lively Student Athlete Tailgate that brought former UD athletes back together. But it wasn't about any one event. It was about belonging to something that still feels like theirs.
You Reconnected
Alumni Weekend welcomed more than 1,700 guests back to Newark for a weekend built around reconnection. From reunions to campus traditions, the weekend offered something for every kind of Blue Hen, with the strongest turnout from the classes of the 2000s. Years pass, careers change, but the friendships made here have a way of picking up right where they left off.
You Marked a New Chapter
In April, thousands of Blue Hens gathered on The Green to celebrate the investiture of Laura Carlson as UD's 29th president, a two-day celebration that stretched across the state, from Georgetown to Wilmington to Newark. It was a milestone moment that the president framed as a celebration of community. Moments like these remind us that UD's next chapter is about moving forward together.
Philanthropy is Everywhere: youtube.com/watch?v=eK5-e5l6NyA
