Campaign chair Wally Weisman joins Warren and Katharine Schlinger, whose $20 million pledge pushed Caltech’s campaign over the $1 billion threshold.

Campaign Crosses $1 Billion Mark

By Vannessa Dodson

On January 25, the campus community gathered in Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium for an important announcement: With three years to go, the Institute’s benefactors have already provided $1 billion in new gifts and pledges toward the $1.4 billion “There’s only one. Caltech” campaign goal.

Opening the afternoon event’s program, campaign chairman Wally Weisman remarked, “The last time I addressed the Institute community was at the public launch of the campaign in October 2002. We have been working hard and wanted to give you an update on the campaign’s progress.”

Progress indeed. For example, $45 million has been raised for professorial chairs, including the Richard and Barbara Rosenberg Professorship of History and Social Science, now occupied by Philip Hoffman; $20 million for graduate fellowships, such as the Oringer Fellowship in Information Science and Technology (see article, page 8); and $72 million for research initiatives, including the Engineering Immunity project funded by the Skirball Foundation. Likewise, the campaign’s first capital project—the restoration of Dabney Hall—is already complete; renovation of the South Houses is scheduled to begin in summer 2005; and Caltech is moving forward with plans for a number of new facilities, among them the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics; the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology; and the Campus Center, which received its lead gift from Benjamin Rosen ’54, who stepped down earlier this year as chair of the Caltech Board of Trustees. Moreover, $158 million of the $300 million committed by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has been designated to campaign objectives that include the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), new nanoscience initiatives, and the Tectonics Observatory. In all, grant funding for eight projects has already been approved through the Moore Foundation’s campaign commitment.

“But we’re not finished,” Weisman said. To reach Caltech’s financial goal, nearly $400 million more must be raised during the next three years. Funding is still needed to fulfill projects like the improvement of the student houses, to launch the Global Environmental Science initiative, to support the Information Science and Technology research centers, and to build much-needed endowment.

Anneila Sargent, PhD ’77, the Rosen Professor of Astronomy and director of Caltech’s Owens Valley Radio Observatory, told the audience how the campaign is supporting faculty research initiatives. “We are encouraged to dream,” she remarked. And benefactors are helping her in realizing her own dream, the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA). Once complete, CARMA will provide instrumentation an order of magnitude more powerful than present radio-telescope arrays, making it possible to conduct studies that will directly address some of the most important questions in astrophysics today.

Providing a student’s perspective, Caltech sophomore Ben Golub commented on the impact that philanthropy has already had on his academic career. As the 2004 beneficiary of the Associates SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships) award, Ben had the opportunity to pursue a summer research project in pure mathematics. “At the deepest level, you are funding a feeling of freedom, and a knowledge of the nature of science at its best,” he said.

Finally, Caltech benefactor Carl Larson ’52 explained that for him and his wife, Shirley, supporting the Institute is an investment. In return, he said, “we are allowed to feel we’re part of this great institution.” Like a good investment, “you give us back more than we put in.”

Before closing the afternoon event, Caltech president David Baltimore announced the generous gift responsible for propelling the campaign over the $1 billion threshold. “Just as Gordon and Betty Moore’s commitment launched us into this campaign effort, another Caltech couple is responsible for pushing us over the $1 billion mark,” Baltimore remarked. “I am pleased to announce that Warren and Katharine Schlinger have graciously increased their campaign pledge to $20 million. Their additional commitment provides the lead gift toward a new facility for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.” The new building will be named the Warren and Katharine Schlinger Laboratory for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, in recognition of their generosity. Schlinger is a three-time Institute graduate (BS ’44, MS ’46, PhD ’49).

“You may be wondering just how you raise $1 billion,” Baltimore said. “One donor, one dollar at a time.” From building Caltech’s endowment to funding vital capital projects, support raised through the campaign will enable faculty, research staff, and students to carry out the Institute’s ambitious research and academic objectives.

“Reaching $1 billion is a significant achievement,” Baltimore said. “But there is much more to do. Funds raised through the campaign will fuel the next generation of Caltech luminaries who are working to answer the most intriguing questions of our time. Every gift and pledge to our campaign helps us reach our goal.”