Interim President Kerwin's April Campus Update

Interim President Kerwin updated the campus community on recent university developments and activities including university finances, academics, enrollment, and governance. Below is an excerpt regarding AU's fundraising efforts.

"Among the items of greatest importance to be supported by the remaining efforts to raise $80 million will be new homes for our Schools of International Service and Communication; endowed professorships for faculty; assistance for the library, Honors Program, and Center for Teaching Excellence; and funding for various needs in campus life and athletics. . . . The impact this work will have on the quality of our academic programs and the support we provide to faculty, students, and staff more than justifies the effort."

To view the entire update, please visit http://www.american.edu/president/statements/040306.html.

Focus on Campaign Priorities: Academic Enhancements

To be recognized as a premier global university, AU must continue to attract the best and brightest faculty and students. While campus improvements are vital to creating an atmosphere conducive to intellectual growth, the teachers, scholars, and students who make up the university community reflect our true strength.

To sustain academic excellence in a changing world requires that we continually explore new ways to enrich the educational experience of our students. AnewAU will support our intellectually rigorous academic environment by enhancing academic centers and special programs. For more information, please visit http://www.american.edu/anewau/academicEnhancements.cfm.

Study Abroad Scholarship Established for SPA Students at Hebrew University

The School of Public Affairs (SPA) recently received a gift to establish the Jane R. Glaser Scholarship Fund to provide financial support to an SPA undergraduate student. Jeremy Rovinsky, BA/SPA '07, is the first recipient of the scholarship.

The scholarship will be awarded twice annually, for the fall and spring semesters, to a student who plans to study abroad at Hebrew University located in Jerusalem. The purpose of the scholarship is to allow a deserving SPA student to enhance their knowledge of world affairs by studying and living in this critical area. Read More

Focus on Campaign Priorities: Endowment

American University's endowment is currently valued at $318 million. In 1994, that figure was $30 million.  The university's long-term financial health depends on a strong endowment which is built through donations and investment growth.

AnewAU aims to raise $45 million for the university's endowment. While this goal may seem ambitious, achieving it will improve AU's ability to recruit world-class faculty, attract promising students, and support academic programs. For more information, please visit http://www.american.edu/anewau/endowments.cfm.

Dr. Kerwin to Visit with Alumni in Chicago and Boston

The American University Alumni Board cordially invites all members of the AU community to receptions with Interim President Neil Kerwin, SPA/BA '71, in Chicago on Thursday, March 30 and Boston on Wednesday, April 19.

If you would like to attend a reception or check dates for upcoming events, please contact the Office of Development at 202-885-5900 or visit www.alumni.american.edu.

AnewAU Surges Forward with Renewed Energy
By Matt Getty, Adapted from American Weekly, February 7, 2006

The AnewAU campaign has reached $116.4 million in cash and pledges as of January 31. Overall participation is up 11 percent compared to last year at this time, with nearly 36,000 alumni, donors, and friends having made gifts to the university. Additionally, cash in hand for the fiscal year is up, with more than $17.5 million collected on previous pledges and new gifts since May 2005. With all the good news, however, the tone of the campaign continues to be one of reinvigoration, a key for AnewAU throughout its third year.

To help make that happen, Interim President Neil Kerwin is meeting with alumni, parents, and friends to discuss AU's stability and strength as well as its vision for the future. In one-on-one meetings and larger receptions throughout the country, Kerwin has shared details about AU's ongoing governance work, news of student achievements, and plans for the SIS and SOC building projects as well as other remaining campaign priorities. With more meetings planned before the end of April, engagement with AU's alumni, parents, and friends remains a hallmark for the campaign.

Read the complete article

AU's Endowment Reaches Record Setting Level

As of January 31, 2006, the value of American University 's endowment was $318 million. This is the first time in the university's history that the endowment has surpassed $300 million, and is a significant milestone for American University . The total investment return on the endowment pool is 14.5%, compared with the average return of 9.3% for all endowments (735 colleges and universities) as reported in the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) annual survey.

Read More

Dr. Kerwin to Visit Alumni and Friends in New York, Chicago, and Boston

The American University Alumni Board cordially invites all members of the AU Community to receptions with Interim President Neil Kerwin, SPA/BA '71, in the following cities: New York City on Thursday, March 2; Chicago on Thursday, March 30; and Boston on Wednesday, April 19. If you would like to attend any of the receptions or check dates for upcoming events, please contact the Office of Development at 202-885-5900 or visit www.alumni.american.edu.

New Development Leader Named

Abbey Silberman has been promoted to senior director of development by AU Interim President Neil Kerwin, effective January 3, 2006. Since August 2004, she has served as the director of prospect research and stewardship at AU. Silberman oversees the Office of Development now that the division's vice president, Al Checcio, has left AU for a position at Fordham University in New York. "I am honored to help steward AnewAU toward successful completion of its financial and programmatic goals," says Silberman.

She plans to focus on three major tasks: to support Dr. Kerwin as he travels the country and reaches out to alumni and friends of the university; to oversee a formal mid-campaign assessment of AnewAU plans; and to take over the day-to-day management responsibilities for development and alumni programs.

Silberman is considered a national expert in prospect research, having written more than 50 articles and presentations in the last decade. She came to the university with more than 15 years of development experience. For the last eight years prior to joining AU, she owned her own consulting firm and served as a senior consultant with nationally respected consulting firm Marts & Lundy. Silberman will lead the development office until a search for a new vice president concludes.

-Melissa Reichley

Interim President Kerwin to Visit with Alumni Across the Country

Interim President Neil Kerwin, SPA/BA '71, will be traveling this winter and spring to meet with alumni, parents, and friends across the country. Beginning in San Francisco on January 25, and Los Angeles on January 26, Kerwin will take this opportunity to catch up with members of the AU community he has met through his 30+ years of service at AU as a professor at the School of Public Affairs and for seven years as provost, and meet with others for the first time.

In addition to the California visits, Kerwin plans to visit with alumni in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago. If you would like to attend any of the receptions or check dates for upcoming events, please contact the Office of Development at 202-885-5900 or visit http://www.alumni.american.edu/.

Former AU Professor Establishes Fund for Chaired Professorship inIsraeli Studies

Lillian Abensohn, former Jewish Studies professor at AU, and her late husband, Seymour, shared a key trait: a love for Israel . Both of Lillian's parents lived for a time and died in the country, and she often traveled there to teach a course on the Hebrew Bible. “ Seymour had a passionate love for Israel,” she said. “He wanted Israel to flourish.”

Today, Lillian is working to ensure that her husband's vision is realized. She has helped raise close to half of the $2 million the Seymour and Lillian Abensohn Fund aims to give AU to endow a chaired professorship at the College of Arts and Sciences' Center for Israeli Studies. “The chair is a perfect melding of Seymour 's passion for Israel , and mine for education,” she said.

Raising the money will be a challenge, but neither Abensohn has ever been known to shy away from obstacles. “How delighted he [Seymour] would be to know that this community has rallied to support him,” she said.

- Mike Unger

For more information on the Abensohns, please visit www.american.edu/anewau/Abensohn.cfm and for more information on the Center for Israeli Studies, please visit www.american.edu/israelistudies/.

The Katzen Opens Winter Exhibitions

The American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center has opened four new, exciting exhibitions. Comic Reality: Political Cartoons by Ibero-American Artists will be open from January 17 – 29, and From the Studio and Remember Marc and Komei will be open from January 17 – March 12.

Comic Reality: Political Cartoons by Ibero-American Artists features more than 100 new or never-before-published political cartoons from 20 Latin American countries, Spain, and Portugal , created by Ibero-America's best-known practitioners of the genre.

From the Studio will showcase work by the 21 artists who make up the studio faculty in AU's Department of Art. The work addresses a wide range of contemporary issues through painting, drawing, sculpture, and multimedia installation.

Remembering Marc and Komei introduces the outstanding art collection of Marc Moyens and Komei Wachi, who owned and operated Gallery K for nearly three decades until their deaths, months apart, in 2003. Mixing locals and nonlocals with Europeans, Moyens and Wachi eschewed fashion in favor of the offbeat, the magical, and the visually arresting.

Body Languages: Mary Coble and Robert Flynt is presented in support of the 13th Annual Lavender Languages and Linguistics Conferenceheld at American University (Feb 10 – 12), where common themes are two-fold: how lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered persons, and queers use language in everyday life, and how language gets directed against the LGBT population by others. Extending the concept to visual art, the exhibition features Robert Flynt’s rumination on the language of desire in which large-scale, sepia-toned photo-collages of male and female nudes are glimpsed through overlays of 18th and 19th century anatomy charts; and Mary Coble’s painfully direct indictment of hate crimes in which the names of 430 victims appear on an expansive grid of small paper sheets. The artist’s “medium” for this performance-based work is her own blood, created by typographic, self-healing tattoos. The exhibition is organized by Provisions Library Resource Center for Art and Social Change (Sita Reddy, Director of Education and Donald Russell, Executive Director).

For more information, please visit www.american.edu/katzen.

Katzen Opening Welcomes 850 to Shining New AU Art Center

The sparkle of candlelight. The sheen of gold tablecloths. The shimmer of blue stars floating behind the students who performed for some 850 glittering guests.

It was a shining evening at the Cyrus and Myrtle Katzen Arts Center, which officially opened on Thursday, October 20 at the 24th Annual President’s Circle Dinner. The stars of the evening, of course, were Dr. Cyrus and Myrtle Katzen, whose $20 million gift made possible AU’s newest building and Washington’s newest landmark.

In dedicating AU's new arts center, Acting President Kerwin said, "The Katzen will be open to all who appreciate art in its many and varied forms. With this building, American University announces it great capabilities and even greater ambition."

For more information on the Katzen, please visit www.american.edu/katzen.

Former President Jimmy Carter Visits AU

Former President Jimmy Carter held a town-hall discussion yesterday, September 19, with AU students, staff, and faculty. The event was held in Bender Arena and more than 2,400 people attended.  The event coincided with the release of the final report of the Commission on Federal Election Reform to President Bush, Congress, and the public by Carter and former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III.

Welcomed by a long, enthusiastic standing ovation, Carter highlighted several of the report’s 87 recommendations, including the need for every election official to be nonpartisan; a uniform voter registration system; and an end to voter discrimination, typically found in regions with high populations of people who are poor, African-American, and/or elderly.  The 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner fielded questions from students for nearly an hour on topics ranging from election reform to world politics and human rights.

The Commission is organized by AU’s Center for Democracy and Election Management, which is directed by Vice President of International Affairs Dr. Robert Pastor. For more information on the Commision on Federal Election Reform, please visit http://www.american.edu/ia/cfer/index.htm.  

Alumna Supports Athletics and AU

Each time a shot fired by a woman on AU’s field hockey team finds the back of the net at the sparkling new William I Jacobs Recreation Complex, the tally will be displayed on a shiny scoreboard funded by Cindy Christy-Langenfeld, KSB/BSBA ’88. her gift befits her personality. Ever since she first set foot on campus two decades ago, the longtime athletics department backer has carried a competitive fire and burning desire to win—qualities that undoubtedly served her well both as a center-midfield on the field hockey team and as president of the student government during the 1987–88 academic year.

Intensely driven and focused, Christy-Langenfeld has carved a highly successful business career for herself since graduating from AU. She’s now network solutions president for communications giant Lucent Technologies, running the $7.5 billion products arm of the company. “I have always enjoyed winning, and I think business is a lot like sports,” she said. “Even today business affords me a great opportunity for leadership, to think about what’s going on competitively, what you have to do to beat the competition. I think athletics clearly lends itself to that. Really, opportunities are available to those in business who are focused and willing to take a risk. My opportunity to play sports since I was very small really prepared me for that.”

KSB Alums Give Back to School that Gave them so Much

Though Bill and Renay Regardie have started a number of real estate and publishing companies together, that is not their greatest collaboration. In June, the Regardies, who met in the lobby of Hughes Hall in 1964, celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. The couple, who graduated from the Kogod School of Business, credit AU with helping them discover their passion—both professionally and personally.

“The school gave me a great start in life,” says Renay, KSB/BSBA ’64. “I was in the business school when not many women were. It opened great avenues for me and laid a foundation for my career. And, of course, I met my husband there!” That’s why, says Bill, KSB/BS ’67, KSB/MBA ’68, “AU will always have a special place in our hearts.”

In an effort to give back to the university and school that means so much to them, the Regardies have pledged $100,000 to establish an endowed scholarship for a current MBA student with a concentration in marketing.

To read more, please visit www.american.edu/anewau/Regardies.cfm.

Campus Prepares for Alumni Weekend

Expecting more than 1,000 people, the entire campus community is getting ready for this year’s Alumni Weekend, October 21–23. Coinciding with Family Weekend, Alumni Weekend promises to host something for everyone, from several exciting new events to some old alumni favorites.

The highlight of the weekend will be Cocktails and Conversation, hosted Saturday night in the Katzen Arts Center. Tour the gallery, enjoy D.C.’s own comedy troupe, the Capitol Steps (admission to their performance is limited to the first 400 individuals who RSVP), listen to jazz vocalist Libby York, SPA/BA ’66, or just relax and mingle with old friends. The evening will also honor the 2005 Alumni Achievement Award winner, Lonnie Bunch, CAS/BA ’74, CAS/MA ’76. In March of 2005, Bunch was named by the Smithsonian Institution as founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

For more information about All-Alumni Weekend, please contact Alumni Programs
at 202-885-5960 or go to http://alumni.american.edu/alumniweekend.
Registrations will be taken via Web site, phone, and fax through October 14.

American University Museum at the Cyrus and Myrtle Katzen Arts Center Opens

The American University Museum at the Katzen is now open to the public.  Museum hours will be from noon–5:00 pm., Tuesdays through Thursdays, and noon–7:00 pm, Fridays and Saturdays. Admission is free and parking is available in the underground garage. 

“Soft Openings,” is a summer-long series of small shows and mini-installations by mostly Washington, DC -area artists, features paintings, sculptures and works on paper by Timothy App, Ed Bisese, Edward Burtynsky, Steve Cushner, Fred Eversley, Sam Gilliam, Lee Haner, Grace Hartigan, Hsin-Hsi Chen, Kristin Holder, Madeleine Keesing, Paul Kos, Jody Mussoff,  David Page, John Ruppert, Joyce Scott, Joe Shannon, Jo Smail, Christine Buckton Tillman, Jaime Romano, Ben L. Summerford, and Yuriko Yamkaguchi.  Additionally, the eminent Washington painter Sam Gilliam created a stairway installation at the Katzen. 

For more information, please visit www.american.edu/katzen or Director and Curator Jack Rasmussen’s blog at www.art_at_thekatzen.typepad.com.

Masonic Foundation Establishes AU Scholarship for DC High School Students

The Masonic Foundation of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia has established an annual scholarship that will support an AU freshman that has graduated from a Washington, DC public high school.  The $15,000.00 Stewart W. Miner Scholarship from the Masonic Foundation will assist with the student’s freshman year educational expenses.  This year’s award was given to Ye Wang, a 2005 graduate of Woodrow Wilson Senior High School.  She will begin her studies at the Kogod School of Business in the fall.  The selection criteria for the award this year was based on academic excellence and acceptance to AU and the Kogod School of Business. 

For more information on scholarships at AU, please visit www.american.edu/anewau/scholarships.cfm.  For more information on The Masonic Foundation of Washington, DC, please visit www.dcgrandlodge.org. 

SPA Receives Gift from the Estate of Isabella A. Clarke

The School of Public Affairs recently received a $600,000 gift, one of the largest gifts in the SPA’s history, from the estate of Isabella A. Clarke, resident of the Washington Metropolitan area.

The gift provides an endowed scholarship to benefit undergraduate or graduate students within SPA who demonstrate academic merit while studying government, public administration, or justice and demonstrate academic merit.  The first scholarship will be awarded for academic year 2006-07.  The Paul Howard Clarke, Paul Ager Clarke, and Isabella Ager Clarke Endowed Scholarship was established by Isabella Clarke in the memory of her husband, Paul H. Clarke, and her son, Paul A. Clarke, who attended American University.  The Clarke family had been involved in the public arena for many years, inspiring Mrs. Clarke to create this endowment. 

“The Clarkes’ generosity will help us in providing financial assistance to many strong students in the years ahead,” stated Dean William LeoGrande. “This gift assures that the next generation of public affairs leaders is drawn from all sectors of society based on individual achievement.”  

To read more about this gift, please visit www.american.edu/anewau/Clarke_Gift.cfm.

SOC Distinguished Film Producer in Residence Funds Environmental Filmmaking Scholarship

The School of Communication’s Distinguished Film Producer in Residence Chris Palmer recently pledged $50,000 to endow an environmental filmmaking scholarship that he hopes “will help make a huge difference to generations to come.” Named in honor of the Emmy award-winning filmmaker’s late parents, the Mavis and Sidney John Palmer Scholarship fund aims to attract and support top student filmmakers who, like Palmer, see the camera as a tool for building a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable world.

The endowment will establish a permanent fund whose annual interest helps finance a graduate film student’s education in SOC’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking each year. Accordingly, though a panel including Palmer, SOC Dean Larry Kirkman, and other SOC faculty will select a new applicant for the scholarship each year, the fund will never be exhausted. “The great thing is that, because it’s endowed, this scholarship will last forever,” explained Palmer. “The idea that my parents’ names will forever be associated with this scholarship and the Center for Environmental Filmmaking is a real thrill for me. It’s like tying a bow on my life and connecting the loose ends of my past and my future."

New Board of Trustees Chair Elected

The AU Board of Trustees elected Leslie Bains as its new chair during its regular May meeting. Bains, who most recently served as president of AFS Intercultural Programs, a community based nonprofit fostering intercultural exchange, has been a member of the board since 1994 and has served as vice chair since 2001. She succeeds George Collins, who will remain on the board after ending his second term as chair. Elected chair in 2001, George Collins served two consecutive terms, the maximum number of consecutive terms an AU board chair can serve.

The university’s Board of Trustees also elected Thomas Gottschalk to assume the vice chair position previously held by Bains. A senior vice president and general counsel at General Motors, Gottschalk has served on the board since 1995.

read more

Fred Eversley Sculpture Installed on the Plaza of the Katzen

IKNHATEN, a sculpture by Fred Eversley was recently installed on the plaza of the Katzen Arts Center, overlooking Ward Circle. This piece is the first work of art installed at the Katzen and is a gift from Cyrus and Myrtle Katzen to American University.

Additionally, the first exhibition at the Katzen is slated to open in late June or early July. Soft Openings will feature art by Timothy App, Ed Bisese, Edward Burtynsky, Steve Cushner, Fred Eversley, Sam Gilliam, Lee Haner, Grace Hartigan, Hsin-Hsi Chen, Kristin Holder, Madeleine Keesing, Paul Kos, Jody Mussoff, David Page, John Ruppert, Joyce Scott, Joe Shannon, Jo Smail, Christine Buckton Tillman, Jaime Romano, and Ben L. Summerford.

For more information, please visit Director and Curator Jack Rasmussen’s blog at http://art_at_thekatzen.typepad.com/art_thekatzen/.

Fiscal Year Ends with Record Number of Alumni Donors

For the first time in AU’s history, more than 20 percent of alumni made a gift – in support of their school or college, scholarships, athletics, or other university program. The number of alumni giving to AU has increased from 7,271 in 1999 to more than 14,000 this year – a 100 percent increase. Alumni participation is an important benchmark because it is one of the criteria that U.S. News & World Report uses each year to rank colleges and universities nationwide.

In addition, the fiscal year closed with more than $17 million in cash from alumni, parents, friends, and organizations, allowing us to reach the half-way point of the $200 million AnewAU campaign goal – months ahead of schedule.  To date, we have raised $103.8 million toward the campaign goal. 

For more information on campaign progress, please visit http://www.american.edu/anewau/progress.cfm. 

Scholarship Luncheon Recognizes Students and Donors

The eighth annual Celebration of Scholarships was held in April. More than 200 scholarship donors, scholarship recipients, members of the President’s Circle, and the National Leadership Council attended. The luncheon recognized both scholarship donors and scholarship recipients; and included a student speaker and musical performance. This year’s student speaker was Elizabeth T. Swibel, SOC/BA ’98, SPA/MPA ’05, recipient of the Susan Dweck Scholarship. The musical performance—a cello and guitar duet—was performed by Stephanie A. Bier, CAS ’06 and Music Scholarship recipient, on cello, and Joshua J. Foster, CAS ’06, recipient of both the Music Scholarship and the David W. Wainhouse Memorial Scholarship, on guitar. 

For more information on scholarships at AU, please visit http://www.american.edu/anewau/scholarships.cfm. 

CAS Holds 15^th Annual Ann Robyn Mathias Student Research

The 15^th Annual Ann Robyn Mathias Student Research Conference was held in April.  The conference awards prizes for the best papers and posters at the conference.  More than 200 CAS students presented their work at the annual conference on topics ranging from Batman to quantum computing during the event.  The conference provides a competitive forum for CAS undergraduate and graduate students to present their original creative works before colleagues, friends and faculty.

The conference is funded in part by a generous grant from alumna and trustee Ann Robyn Mathias, CAS/BA ’64, WCL/JD ’92.  It is the largest single gift made to the College of Arts and Sciences during the AnewAU campaign.

The Ann Robyn Mathias Program Fund for Faculty and Student Research in the College of Arts and Sciences will also be used to provide funding for international travel for graduate students to support thesis and dissertation research, grants for undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research projects during the summer, and to reduce teaching loads for pre-tenure faculty members in one or more years before the tenure decision is made.

For more information, please visit http://www.american.edu/campaign/Mathias.cfm or http://www.american.edu/cas/src.html.

AU Grads Support Current Students with the Alumni Scholarship

“Small gifts produce big results”— that’s a familiar appeal when universities reach out to their alumni for financial support. If anyone doubts its truth, then all they need do is consider the Alumni Scholarship at American University. Funded annually by proceeds from the Alumni Audit program - a special arrangement that allows AU graduates to audit classes at the university for $100 per course.

The alumni association initiated this scholarship in 1971 to encourage legacy students to attend AU. To be eligible for the scholarship, candidates must berelated to an AU alumnus, have a record of academic excellence, and have participated in leadership and community service activities. Thanks to the nearly 200 alumni who have registered to audit classes in the past year, this scholarship has grown by almost $15,000, adding significantly to the scholarship fund, which now has a balance of more than $100,000. 

The current recipient of the Alumni Scholarship is Mark Stern, president of the Class of ’07 and a rising junior from Montgomery, Ala., who ismajoring in public communication.   The next recipient will be named this summer. 

To read more about Mark Stern and the Alumni Scholarship, please visit http://www.american.edu/campaign/Mark Stern.cfm.

School of Public Affairs Reconnects with Alumnus and Partners
with Maximus Foundation

Fifteen years after graduating as a PhD from the School of Public Affairs, John Boyer reconnected with his alma mater in many significant ways. Following a call from AU staff in the winter of 2004, he enthusiastically responded with interest in getting involved in the life of the university.

Since then, he has connected his employer, MAXIMUS, Inc., with AU’s Career Center and annual career fair. Additionally, Boyer has become a President’s Circle donor and member of the School of Public Affairs Advisory Council. Also, through his support, the MAXIMUS Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit supported by contributions from MAXIMUS and its employees, will fund an AU scholarship for disadvantaged local youth in the 2005–06 academic year.

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T-Mobile Provides Gift-in-Kind of BlackBerrys™ to the Kogod School of Business

T-Mobile USA will provide BlackBerry 7100t™ phones with T-Mobile HotSpot wireless broadband service to 300 Kogod graduate students and faculty. Graduate students admitted for next fall will receive a BlackBerry 7100t and have access to the T-Mobile HotSpot service. Graduate students will be able to access course work, graduate admissions, job listings, and internal information via their BlackBerry 7100t. Additionally, the BlackBerry 7100t and Web site streaming will be fully integrated into the business school’s academic experience. Text messaging and the T-Mobile HotSpot wireless broadband service also will be incorporated with Web streams available via laptop computers.In addition to this generous gift, T-Mobile was also a sponsor of AU’s Homecoming and Reunion Weekend last fall.

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Senior Class Raises Money for the Katzen Arts Center

The class of 2005 is making its contribution and leaving its mark by raising funds for the new Katzen Arts Center, and making a contribution to the Student Endowment for the University Library. Members of the class of 2005 began fundraising efforts for this project four years ago as freshmen. With a goal of $60,000, the class plans to establish new benchmarks for the success of the senior gift program. Giving to the Katzen was decided by an online vote that was open to seniors,during August and September 2004.

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Katzen Arts Center Blog Launches

We invite you to visit the new weblog for the Katzen Arts Center. The blog was launched in March and is an open forum to discuss the building and its programming. Jack Rasmussen, director and curator of the Katzen Arts Center Galleries, will post updates, news, pictures, and information on opening events and exhibits.

Please visit the blog at
www.art_at_thekatzen.typepad.com/.

AnewAU Campaign Surpasses $100 million

In his annual campus address, AU President Benjamin Ladner announced that the $200 million AnewAU campaign had just reached its halfway mark—with more than $100 million in pledges and gifts. “Nothing,” he said, “stands out quite as dramatically in the 11 years since I have been here as the year we’ve just completed and the year we’re in right now.”

Read about President Ladner’s campus
address at the American Weekly Online.

Don’t miss your chance to get a sneak peek at the Katzen Arts Center before it opens this fall. We invite you to take a tour of this magnificent facility to see the three-story, 30,000-square-foot gallery, the 200-seat recital hall, the black-box theatre, the dance studio, and the academic wing, and to imagine all they will become. Tours are held Wednesdays at 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. and Thursdays at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. You must wear long pants, a shirt with sleeves, and flat, hard-soled shoes (no sneakers) with a closed toe. You will be provided with a hardhat, orange safety vest, and safety goggles. Space is limited for each tour.

To sign up, please contact Kim Counes at 202-885-2986 or counes@american.edu.

Kogod Alumna Endows Research Professorship

Today, Shirley Kullen, Kogod/BSBA ’59, MBA ’61, PhD ’72, and her husband, Sol Kullen, (a prominent printing and publishing executive) are ensuring that future Kogod students continue to benefit from talented professors. By including provisions in their charitable estate plan to fund the Shirley and Sol Kullen Research Professorship, the couple will help Kogod continue to attract and retain top faculty.

read more

To receive more information, please visit:
www.alumni.american.edu or call Mary Skinner at 202-885-5925.

Jack Cassell, BA/SOC '77, AU Trustee, and former AU Athlete, has made a second major gift to AU, pledging $500,000 to the Department of Athletics and Recreation. This gift is in addition to his previous $250,000 gift to Men’s Basketball, brining his total AnewAU campaign contribution to $750,000.00. Cassell made the exciting announcement during the Athletics campaign launch at The Stafford H. Cassell Hall of Fame Dinner, named in honor of his late father, a former AU athletic director, in February. This generous gift will help Athletics raise funds to improve Bender Arena, Reeves Field, William I. Jacobs Recreation Complex, Massachusetts Avenue Field, as well as for locker room renovations and the annual fund.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.american.edu/anewau/athletics.cfm

The AnewAU campaign case statement won first place for the Fundraising Publications category in District II of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education Annual Accolades Awards.  According to the judges, this publication “far surpassed anything else in the category,” said the judges. Colleges and universities in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Ontario, and the U.S. Virgin Islands make up this district.  If you would like to receive a copy of the AnewAU case statement, please send your request to anewau@american.edu.

As part of AnewAU, the Department of Athletics and Recreation will launch its portion of the campaign at The Stafford H. Cassell Hall of Fame Dinner on February 5.  Athletics will raise funds to increase the annual fund and improve existing facilities including, Bender Arena, Reeves Field, William I Jacobs Recreation Complex, Massachusetts Avenue Field, and renovate the locker rooms.  Additionally, AU Athletics was ranked in the top 20 of the United States Sports Academy Directors' Cup Division I fall season standings—an amazing accomplishment for our coaches and athletes.  For more information, please visit http://www.american.edu/anewau/athletics.cfm or http://www.aueagles.com.  Go Eagles!

Miami and Palm Beach Receptions to Celebrate AnewAU

Miami and Palm Beach alumni, parents, and friends are cordially invited to celebrate AnewAU, the Campaign for American University, at receptions in the Miami and Palm Beach areas. The events will be held on Wednesday, March 2 in Miami at the Miami City Club from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Thursday, March 3 in Palm Beach at the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Each reception costs $15.00 per person. Please RSVP by Friday, February 25; call 800-270-ALUM or register on-line at http://alumni.american.edu/events to reserve a space. If you have any questions, please call Mary Skinner at 202-885-5925. 

The university’s School of Communication (SOC) began 2005 by taking a major step toward its new home – thanks to the generosity of AU Trustee Michael Forman and SOC advisory council members.

After meeting with SOC Dean Larry Kirkman and Vice President of University Relations Al Checcio, Forman made a $250,000 pledge to fund the initial costs for the SOC bu