A Campaign Made By Many, Benefiting Many More
Scholarships
During the Making History campaign, SAS donors endowed an additional 318 scholarships. More than $130 million was raised for undergraduate financial aid—the most money raised for this purpose in the history of the School. During the course of the campaign, the School’s endowment for financial aid more than tripled. As a result, we are meeting the financial need of our students with loan-free aid packages, and they are able to graduate without daunting debt.
Faculty
Generous SAS donors funded 39 faculty positions—enabling the School to recruit and retain the academic stars who are the heart of SAS. These top scholars are experts and innovators in their fields, as well as devoted teachers dedicated to providing the best education to undergraduate and graduate students.
Facilities
More than $100 million was raised for buildings—the physical spaces that house discovery, learning, and academic interaction. With this extraordinary support, we can continue to transform our campus, providing vibrant, sophisticated spaces for teaching and research, including the forthcoming Neural and Behavioral Sciences Building and the Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics, and the renovated Music Building and chemistry laboratories.
Innovative Undergraduate Programs
Donors to the SAS Making History campaign have helped transform the undergraduate educational experience by creating new programs, including:
The Integrated Studies Program, now in its second year, is building a powerful foundation of core liberal arts for incoming College freshmen accepted as Benjamin Franklin Scholars. As part of the program, three professors from the School—one from humanities, one from the social sciences, and one from the natural sciences—teach a single course examining one theme from different perspectives. Recent themes included “Knowing” and “Thinking.”
The Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research (VIPER) leads to a dual degree: Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science in Engineering. Launched in 2012, the program attracts talented students who focus on a critically important area of study for our country and the world—alternative and efficient energy sources.
The Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management enrolls 25 exceptional students each year and offers them the opportunity to pursue an interdisciplinary curriculum combining bioscience and business, leading to the completion of two degrees: a Bachelor of Arts in a life sciences major, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Economics.
Internships
Because practical, real-world knowledge greatly augments undergraduates’ classroom education and strengthens their professional preparation, the School of Arts and Sciences worked with our donors to create 36 new internships during the Making History campaign. Today, College undergraduates gain powerful internship experiences through the Biological Basis of Behavior program, the Center for Advanced Study of India, the Vagelos Program in Life Sciences Management, and the Robert A. Fox Leadership Program, among others.
A Vital Hub for the Life Sciences
Inspired by School of Arts and Sciences Dean Rebecca Bushnell’s vision for the future, members of the SAS Board of Overseers and other generous donors banded together to make the School’s Neural and Behavioral Sciences Building a reality. Situated next to James G. Kaskey Memorial Park, the NBS Building will connect the Carolyn Lynch and Leidy Laboratories, creating a life sciences corridor for SAS. When it opens in 2016, the NBS Building will also promote collaboration across undergraduate programs by serving as the new home for Biology, Psychology, Biological Basis of Behavior, and the Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management.
