CIC Presidents Present 2010 Awards During Annual Conference

George Martin, chair of the CIC Board of Directors and president of St. Edward’s University (TX); Richard Ekman, president of CIC; and Nancy Oliver Gray, president of Hollins University (VA), presented the awards.

During his introduction, Ekman said, “These awards are an important way for CIC presidents to celebrate and honor those who encourage us, who contribute generously to our enterprise, and who raise the standards to which we aspire. CIC is extremely pleased to have the opportunity to recognize William and Barbara Smith Young, an extraordinarily generous couple who stand as role models for philanthropists and college trustees everywhere, and The Bernard McDonough Foundation, which has financed scholarships and educational opportunities for private college undergraduates for more than a quarter of a century.”

The 2010 Award for Individual Philanthropy celebrates an individual (or individuals) who demonstrate the love of humankind through consequential giving and who provides an example of the philanthropic spirit. President Gray, in announcing the award, said “CIC recognizes the Youngs’ exemplary commitments to liberal arts education, in particular to two CIC member institutions, Sweet Briar College and Transylvania University. Barbara Smith Young is a 1971 history graduate of Sweet Briar College whose heart has never left her alma mater’s campus. She serves today as vice chair of Sweet Briar’s board of directors and has contributed personally at the institution’s highest donor levels. Her leadership of Sweet Briar’s most recent fundraising drive resulted in $121 million.”

Gray continued, “Bill Young, a Princeton graduate with an MBA from the University of Virginia, is ardent about programs at Transylvania University, where his father served as chair of the board for 23 years. Bill joined Transylvania’s board of trustees more than a quarter of a century ago, and followed his father as its board chair in 2000. Under his tenure as board chair, Transylvania’s endowment reached an all-time high of $145 million. Bill is president of the parent company of W.T. Young Storage, a commercial warehousing and real estate development firm.”

The award reads, in part, “CIC recognizes the Youngs’ commitment to the liberal arts and liberal arts colleges and universities…as well as to a host of other nonprofit institutions, health care organizations, and historic preservation causes.”

The 2010 Award for Philanthropy for an Organization celebrates a foundation or corporation whose support to private colleges and universities or to CIC has demonstrated leadership and vision and has, consequently, made a significant difference in the vitality of independent higher education. In presenting the award, President Gray said, “CIC recognizes The Bernard McDonough Foundation’s generous support for a wide array of liberal arts colleges as well as for the West Virginia Independent Colleges and Universities association in its continuing efforts to strengthen undergraduate learning.”

“Bernard P. McDonough, the foundation’s benefactor, emerged from humble beginnings to build an industrial empire. He believed that education was absolutely essential for success and he dedicated his wealth accordingly. In the past quarter century, The McDonough Foundation has awarded more than $4 million to independent institutions of higher education in West Virginia and another $5 million to colleges and universities in other states. The foundation also provided funding for the Alma P. McDonough Center at Wheeling Jesuit University and the McDonough Leadership Center at Marietta College; it funded classroom furnishings and computer lab updates for Ohio Valley University; and it provided a multi-year grant to help launch the Pharmacy School at the University of Charleston. In recent years the Foundation has supported Alderson-Broadus, Berea, Birmingham-Southern, Davis & Elkins, and Thiel Colleges and Cumberland and Gannon Universities. It also provided funding for more than 50 student scholarships last year and has donated scholarship funds annually since 1982 for each of West Virginia’s nine private colleges.”

The foundation’s president, Robert Stephens, a former president of Ohio Valley University, accepted the award on behalf of the foundation. The award reads, in part, “The presidents of the nation’s independent colleges and universities are proud to recognize The McDonough Foundation’s outstanding effort to create a better educated citizenry.”