Major Gift Profiles
Al Warrington Commits $16 Million to Create Faculty Fellows Fund
Citing faculty as the key to a competitive future for the Warrington College of Business Administration, UF Trustee and alum Al Warrington has committed a deferred gift of $16 million to establish an endowment to privately fund faculty positions in the College.
Benefits made possible by the gift include:
- Salary and benefits for the positions will come entirely from the income from the newly created Warrington Faculty Fellows Endowment
- Faculty positions will be in accounting and entrepreneurship and others yet to be determined
- Faculty supported by the fund will be known as Warrington Fellows
"This gift, which is being accompanied by others, will help address the issue of the need for more faculty. I hope this gift will encourage others to join in supporting this singularly most important need at the college," says Al Warrington.
"This is an innovative way to provide the means to maintain a consistent pool of talented junior faculty in an environment of insufficient state resources," said Kraft. "We hope that, once again, Al will lead by example, since the caliber of the faculty is a key driver of the quality of our College."
- -John Kraft, dean
John Kraft, dean of the College, sees this faculty funding model as a way to secure a high level of talent and to develop a competitive pipeline of young faculty for the future.
Warrington's gift takes the Warrington College of Business Administration over the $100 million mark as part of UF's university-wide $1.5 billion capital campaign, entitled "Florida Tomorrow." The gift is also eligible for matching funds from the state of Florida's Trust Fund for Major Gifts, which could bring the total amount of the Warrington Faculty Fellows Endowment to $32 million.
Warrington has a long history of financial support and service to UF. In 1996, UF's College of Business was named for Warrington. He is one of the original members of the UF Board of Trustees, established in 2001, and continues to serve on that board.
Currently a Houston resident, Warrington earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from UF in 1958.
Bill Hough Names Graduate School with Largest Gift in UF History
William R. "Bill" Hough graduated as a member of the University of Florida's first MBA class in 1948, and has been supporting UF ever since. Now, he makes university history again, as the donor of the largest private gift UF has ever received, $30 million dollars. In recognition of this overwhelming show of support, the university has established a new school that bears his name: The Hough Graduate School of Business.
The gift establishes an endowment to support teaching, academic programs and enhancements in the graduate school of business, in which approximately 1,500 students are currently enrolled, and provides a lead gift to construct a new building to house the graduate business programs. The building will be named William R. Hough Hall, once approved by the UF Board of Trustees and the Florida Legislature. Hough's gift will be eligible for matching funds from the State of Florida Major Gifts Trust Fund and from the Alec P. Courtelis Facilities Enhancement Challenge Grant Program, potentially increasing the total value of the gift to $50 million.
Complete Article (pdf)Hough Program
More Donor News
Faculty Challenge Initiative
The 90 faculty in the Warrington College of Business Administration are at the heart of this great institution, and influence a large number of students at the University of Florida each year. Business has a history of a rich research culture, having been the home of the state's first eminent scholar chair, the Matherly-McKethan, since 1979. Since then, 11 additional chairs have been established at the College.
The Faculty Challenge is an initiative to raise $150 million in private support for endowment to give faculty the tools they need to enhance classroom instruction and conduct world-class research. Because of the high priority President Machen has placed on this initiative, he has pledged to add $250,000 to each gift of $1 million or more. The president's match will come from a special discretionary fund established with private donations specifically for the Faculty Challenge until the fund is exhausted.
We currently have 25 endowed professorships, but many more junior and adjunct faculty are in need of support.
Faculty ChallengeEndowed Professorships & Eminent Scholars
Annual Giving
Our annual appeal to alumni has just begun! Each year, UF students begin a campaign to contact each one of you, through mail or during our "phonathon," to raise money for our annual fund. These appeals are critical to UF, as annual fund dollars are used for many general purposes in support of faculty and students.
This year, however, the stakes have been raised! The SEC has initiated a "challenge" to conference schools in an effort to increase recent graduate giving rates. The SEC Challenge has been issued only to alums who received an undergraduate in the last ten years and will not be tracked on dollar amount raised, but strictly on participation! Help us become #1 and prove to the rest of the SEC that there's no greater spirit than Gator spirit!
SEC ChallengeHow Your Annual Fund Gift Helps
- Assist student organizations;
- Support curriculum development for new electives that help students transition from high school to college, and from college to the workplace, such as the new "Warrington Welcome" course for entering freshman and "Business Communications" for all undergraduates;
- Provide seed money for promising student and faculty research projects to encourage innovation;
- Acquire new technology applications for research and teaching;
- Renovating facilities; it may not sound glamorous, but sufficient and technologically outfitted office and classroom space in Bryan, Matherly, and Stuzin Halls is crucial to everything we do - and your support to update these aging buildings is the strength on which we build our future!
Phonathon Schedule
The students began calling graduates (since 1995) in mid-July. Calls to all alumni will begin in mid-August.
