Posted on October 25, 2011

Case Western Reserve University Announces $80 Million in Gifts

Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, has announced $80 million in gifts as part of a recently launched $1 billion fundraising campaign, including a $50 million pledge from the Weatherhead Foundation in nearby Beachwood.

The Weatherhead pledge — the largest single financial commitment to the university in its history — will be split evenly between the Weatherhead School of Management and the new Weatherhead Institute for Family Medicine and Community Health. Industrialist Albert Weatherhead led the foundation until his death last month. In addition, the university received a $20 million commitment from an anonymous donor to create an endowment for its programs in the natural sciences.

The university also announced gifts of $5 million from the John Huntington Fund for Education in support of undergraduate scholarships for students from Cuyahoga County; $2 million from alumna Dr. Mary Sheldon to endow a professorship at the university's School of Medicine; $2 million from the family foundation of Erich Spangenberg to endow a professorship at the School of Law; and $1 million from KeyBank to augment an existing KeyBank fund at the Weatherhead School of Management. The university has raised more than $660 million during the quiet phase of the campaign, which got under way approximately four years ago.

"The national outreach that accompanies a campaign like this provides a wonderful opportunity to reach out to our alumni and learn what issues are uppermost on their minds," said CWRU president Barbara R. Snyder, who visited more than two dozen alumni chapters during her first year in office. "I look forward to sharing the story of our growing momentum with our graduates and hearing their ideas and suggestions."