In This Section:
Chase family donates $1.75 million
Leading by example
Alumni lead support to UConn Foundation
Gift supports programs at the Law School and UConn Health Center
 |
| The Chase family has made gifts totaling $1.75 million through their family foundations to help support programs at both the UConn School of Law and the UConn Health Center. |
A prominent Connecticut family has made two gifts totaling $1.75 million to support programs at the UConn Health Center and the School of Law.
One million dollars of the Chase family’s gift will provide endowment support for the UConn Health Center’s signature program in musculoskeletal medicine. A $750,000 gift to the law school establishes the Cheryl A. Chase Endowment, which will provide programmatic support to the school.
“We are deeply grateful for the family’s significant commitment to our institution and that their gifts for research, teaching and public service at UConn will ultimately benefit countless individuals whose lives the University touches,” says UConn President Philip E. Austin.
The naming of the Chase Family Skeletal Biology Research Laboratories and the Chase Family Research Floor will recognize the family’s ongoing generosity. The laboratories will be housed on the fourth floor of the UConn Health Center’s new $24 million Medical Arts and Research Building.
The state-of-the-art Chase Research Laboratories will advance new cures, techniques and treatments of bone and joint diseases, bringing together researchers, surgeons and experts in related fields. The gift, made through the Rhoda and David Chase Family Foundation, Inc., is intended to demonstrate the importance of this area of research to David T. Chase, the founder of Chase Enterprises in Hartford, and his wife, Rhoda.
“We chose to make this gift in recognition of the Health Center’s tremendous value as a resource for high quality care to the Connecticut community and our family and for the importance of UConn’s groundbreaking research in this area of medicine,” Chase says.
In recognition of the establishment of the law school endowment, the administration building, which houses high-tech classrooms in addition to the dean’s office and other major administrative offices, will be named Cheryl A. Chase Hall.
“My family and I believe strongly in the power of education and service to our community,” says Cheryl Chase ’78 J.D., who is executive vice president and general counsel of Chase Enterprises. “I am grateful for the excellent legal education I received and am delighted to play a significant role in shaping the future of this great institution.”
The Chase family’s foundations, including The Rhoda and David Chase Family Foundation, The Cheryl Chase and Stuart Bear Family Foundation, Inc., and The Sandy and Arnold Chase Family Foundation, have long supported the University, including a gift that established the Chase Family Chair in Juvenile Diabetes at the UConn Health Center.
Both gifts from the Chase family are eligible to be supported by the state matching endowment gift program, which could ultimately bring the total to more than $2 million.
 Photo by Colin McNamara |
| Sarah Domoff '06 (CLAS) |
When Sarah Domoff ’06 (CLAS) opens her daily planner, a series of events, meetings and responsibilities awaits her completion. As she walks between classes, her cell phone doesn’t stop ringing.
Since her sophomore year, Domoff, a psychology major, has served as student affairs chairperson and also served as an Undergraduate Student Government (USG) senator.
Her motivation is simple: “I believe that if you think you can make something better, work to change it.”
Domoff brings the same level of energy into the classroom. When she entered UConn, Domoff was awarded an Academic Achievement Scholarship and invited into the Honors Program.
“Being in the Honors Program has afforded me so many chances to work with professors and to pursue my research interests,” she says.
Domoff’s career plans center on a commitment to people. She will graduate next spring from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with a degree in psychology and plans to enter medical school and then pursue a career in psychiatry.
“Last semester, I participated in undergraduate psychology research focusing on children with obsessive compulsive disorder. This enabled me to formulate my senior thesis,” she says, which will allow her to graduate with honors.
It is clear that her life demands a pace that is exceptional for most students. Students endorsed Domoff’s commitment and leadership last spring by electing her USG president.
Her goals as USG president are to establish a course information database for students, to implement the Guard Dogs safe ride home service, and to strengthen the Diversity and Multi-Cultural Affairs Committee in USG to further promote diversity throughout the campus.
“UConn, in my eyes, is the best school. I love how we have the best academic and research opportunities at UConn and the best athletic teams too,” Domoff says. “It truly is like having the best of both worlds.”
— Cara Motowidlo ’06 (CLAS)
Alumni lead support to UConn Foundation
New gifts and commitments to the UConn Foundation were $55.8 million during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005.
There were nearly 36,000 donors to the University, with alumni donors contributing 38 percent of the amount raised. Corporations provided 24.6 percent, private foundations another 16.6 percent and the remainder was contributed by other UConn supporters. UConn ranks seventh nationally in alumni giving at public universities.
The largest single contribution was $10 million from Ray Neag ’56 (CLAS) and Carole Neag to support the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UConn Health Center. Largely as a result of that gift, the Health Center raised $21 million—an all-time high for a single year. The Division of Athletics raised $16.8 million in 2004, also a record high total, and contributions to benefit the Storrs and regional campuses were $18 million.
Donors established 49 new endowed funds to support scholarships, programs and faculty, bringing the total number of these endowment types to 1,065. The dollar value of endowment gifts eligible for state matching grants was $16.5 million, an increase of more than 50 percent over last year.
The Annual Fund, which raises unrestricted gifts for the University, exceeded the $3 million threshold for the first time, an increase of 20 percent over last year. As part of this effort, contributions to the deans’ funds in various schools and colleges grew 41 percent compared with last year’s results. A total of 26,787 donors supported the Annual Fund.
Returns for the Foundation’s pooled investment portfolio were 10 percent, compared to Standard & Poor’s national benchmark return of 6.3 percent. This is the third consecutive year that investment returns have helped produce a record high endowment total at the University. Endowed assets totaled $272 million, an increase of $21 million, or 8 percent, above last year.