Campaign UW: Creating Futures

 

Overview

Our current real estate offerings have been supported by widespread financial support from the local and regional real estate community. As with our core philosophy, this support has come from an interdisciplinary pool of donors who share our commitment to advancing real estate education and research.

In 2004 we launched our Capital Campaign II to build on the investment made in our initial campaign that enabled us to create the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies and establish our current Real Estate Program. The objective of this campaign is to provide private capital to help us exhance our current offerings and launch a master's degree in real estate. We've established four major goals for our campaign:

• Faculty Support. We’ve established a goal of $1 million to create an endowed chair in real estate in order to expand the Runstad Center’s permanent faculty and build a nationally recognized program. Raising $1 million will allow us to apply for an additional $500,000 from the UW Matching Initiative, resulting in a total endowment of $1.5 million.
• Student Support. Our goal amount of $500,000 will enable us to recruit and retain the best students by providing scholarships, fellowships, and opportunities for paid positions assisting with teaching and research activities. Endowed scholarships and fellowships may also qualify for matching funds from the UW Matching Initiative.
• Program Support. Our goal amount of $1.5 million will fund a general endowment to provide support for additional faculty to launch a master's degree in Real Estate, and to support various real estate activities.
• Facilities Support. Our goal amount of $1.5 million will help provide funding for a dedicated space to complement the Runstad Center’s existing facilities in Gould Hall, providing customized space for teaching and research.

Organization

Two members of our Advisory Committee, Greg Johnson and Judy Runstad, have taken on the charge of heading up our Capital Campaign.

Support

As of October 2005, our Capital Campaign has been extremely successful, generating pledges of some $2.3 million on top of our inital $3 million campaign. Our efforts have focused on our top two priorities: creation of an endowed chair, and endowment funds for student support. To date, we have received pledges to support:

• Bob Filley Chair. Over $1.5 million from a consortium of donors including Jon and Judy Runstad, Kemper Freeman, ICSC Educational Foundation, Jim Kenyon, Professor George Rolfe, Gary Waterman, and Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation including $500,000 in UW matching funds.
  
• Student Support. Some $750,000 from a variety of donors including the

- Foster Pepper Endowed Fellowship
- Linda Nordstrom Endowed Fellowship
- Wells Fargo Endowed Fellowship
- Unico Properties Endowed Fellowship for Diversity

We have also received significant pledges for the Bob Filley Fund for Student Support, created to recognize the contributions to the REUW Program made by the late Bob Filley who played a critical role in its creation.

 

Click on this link for our Case Statement (PDF). For more information on how you can participate in this important venture, contact Carolyn Wennblom.