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CIC PRESIDENTS PRESENT TOP 2007 ANNUAL AWARDS DURING ANNUAL CONFERENCE

TUCSON, AZ – The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) announced the three recipients of its top 2007 annual awards. Eugene Lang, a retired businessman and entrepreneur, received the Allen P. Splete Award for Outstanding Service, while philanthropists Marvin Suomi and the George I. Alden Trust were selected for CIC’s Awards for Philanthropy. The awards were presented at CIC’s Awards Banquet during the annual Presidents Institute, held at the Westin La Paloma Resort in Tucson, Arizona on Saturday, January 6.

The Allen P. Splete Award for Outstanding Service is given to an individual, publication, or organization for significant contributions to independent higher education. The award recognizes national leadership, through ideas and commitment, on behalf of private colleges and universities. The award is named in honor of CIC’s president emeritus who served from 1986 to 2000.

Born in 1919, Eugene Lang is a Hungarian-American philanthropist who founded REFAC Technology Development Corporation in 1951. He received a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College in 1938 (where he is chair emeritus of the board of managers), and a master’s degree from Columbia University in 1940. He has been married to Theresa (Volmar) Lang since 1946.

Lang has achieved national recognition for his philanthropy, particularly for the “I Have a Dream” projects, now numbering 180 in 64 cities across 27 states. These projects guarantee college scholarships to sixth graders who persist to high school graduation and aspire to attend college. The “I Have a Dream” program has served more than 13,500 students during its more than two decades of operation. In 1996 Mr. Lang was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his remarkable effort.

CIC recognized Lang specifically for his more recent work to establish Project Pericles, a national consortium now consisting of 22 colleges and universities that have made commitments to include social responsibility and participatory citizenship as an essential part of their educational programs. All but one of these institutions are private. This learning experience provides students with a foundation for social and civic involvement and a conviction that democratic institutions and processes offer each person the best opportunity to improve the condition of society.

The 2006 Award for Philanthropy (Individual), presented to Marvin Suomi, celebrates individuals who contribute volunteer service or financial support to independent colleges and universities. It honors those individuals who provide an example of the philanthropic spirit. Suomi is CEO and president of KUD International LLC, a subsidiary of Japan’s Kajima Corporation, one of the largest construction-related service companies in the world.

With this award CIC recognizes Suomi’s extraordinary record of financial contributions. The Suomi family’s generosity reflects their belief in the importance of higher education. He and his wife, Mariclare, provide scholarships and direct support to the humanities at several institutions. They are major benefactors to a center for communication arts at Allegheny College and provided a $500,000 matching gift for the construction of a $1.7 million, 3,500-square-foot Early Childhood Center at California Lutheran University.

Suomi also volunteers with exceptional enthusiasm and energy, bringing his distinctive business expertise to educational and other nonprofit organizations. He is a trustee of Allegheny College, serving as vice chair of the board’s academic affairs committee and as a member of the campaign steering committee, and he contributes to the College’s campus planning and civic engagement committees. He is also a member of the California Lutheran board of regents, and a trustee of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, where he serves as a Visiting Fellow. In addition, he chairs the President’s Council at both Concordia and Finlandia universities.

The winner of the Award for Philanthropy (Foundation and Corporate), which celebrates a foundation or corporation that has demonstrated leadership and vision in improving higher education, is the George I. Alden Trust. With an endowment today of $171 million, George I. Alden established the Trust on August 24, 1912 for the general purpose of “the promotion of education in schools, colleges, or other educational institutions,” as well as with a particular interest in several named Worcester (MA) educational organizations. Throughout its history, the trustees have given priority to independent undergraduate education in smaller institutions with full-time traditional undergraduate enrollments of 1,000 to 3,000 students. The Trust provides this support to institutions in the Northeast and selected other colleges and universities around the nation.

CIC presented this award to The Alden Trust in recognition of its remarkable support of CIC member colleges. In 2005, The Trust awarded grants totaling more than $3.2 million to 27 CIC member colleges and universities, including Berry, Blackburn, Dean, Elizabethtown, Saint Anselm, St. Scholastica, Tougaloo, Trinity (CT), and Ursinus colleges, as well as Eastern University and many others. The grants were used for endowments; capital projects such as classrooms, libraries, and laboratories; and the acquisition of scientific and technological equipment.

The Alden Trust supports institutions that demonstrate a combination of educational excellence, exciting programming, and efficient and effective administration. The trustees support proposals that promise to contribute significantly to the intellectual growth of students and enhance an institution’s mission, with particular emphasis on Mr. Alden’s desire to “do the greatest good to the greatest number of beneficiaries.”

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The Council of Independent Colleges is an association of 570 independent colleges and universities, including liberal arts, comprehensive, and international institutions as well as higher education affiliates and organizations that work together to strengthen college and university leadership, sustain high-quality education, and enhance private higher education’s contributions to society. To fulfill this mission, CIC provides its members with skills, tools, and knowledge that address aspects of leadership, financial management and performance, academic quality, and institutional visibility. The Council is headquartered at One Dupont Circle in Washington, DC.

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