Stanford Seeks $1.1 Billion for Its Centennial

Stanford University formally launched on Wednesday what officials said is the largest fund-raising effort undertaken by an American university, a $1.1-billion Centennial Campaign scheduled to last 4 1/2 years.

Although a centennial observance ordinarily lasts only one year, Stanford plans a “centennial period” from now until Oct. 1, 1991, which will be the 100th anniversary of the opening of the university.

The money will be used to build new facilities for teaching and research in engineering and science, to endow an additional 100 professorships and to improve undergraduate education, President Donald Kennedy told reporters in a briefing on the Stanford campus.

Additional Amount

Of the $1.1 billion, $533 million would have been raised in any case through regular annual gift campaigns, so $567 million is the additional amount that must be found.

The largest single portion of this $567 million--$180 million--will be used to build a 41-acre “near west” campus that will house most of the university’s science and engineering departments.

“This is very badly needed space,” said James F. Gibbons, dean of the School of Engineering. “There are important experiments that can’t be done in our present buildings because they’re outmoded and often don’t have proper safety equipment.”

Altogether, the new science and engineering campus will cost $250 million and will take 10 years to build.

Raymond F. Bacchetti, budget director and vice provost for management, said the rest of the money for the new campus will come from loans and from the university’s general funds.

The university plans to commit $141 million to endow 100 new professorships. At present, about 180 of Stanford’s 700 tenured full professors hold endowed chairs, a somewhat smaller proportion than at other private research universities, university officials said.

The new professorships will cost about $1.6 million each and will go largely to people who are already on the faculty, according to Provost James Rosse.

Forty of the new endowed chairs will go to the School of Humanities and Sciences, in an effort to raise the level of some humanities departments to the level of many of Stanford’s science and engineering units.

New Academic Programs

In addition to the endowed chairs, money will be sought to start new academic programs, to increase the number of graduate fellowships, to start new research centers and institutes and to increase the library endowments.

All of this comes under the heading of “strengthening the community of scholars,” officials said.

The university has earmarked $106 million to improve undergraduate education. Among other things, this money will be used for scholarships, additional undergraduate research and honors programs and more educational opportunities in university residences.

A dozen special “centennial professorships” will go to faculty members who want to devote more time to teaching in Stanford’s increasingly popular interdisciplinary programs for undergraduates.

Athletics and recreational programs and facilities are to receive $20 million. Athletic Director Andy Geiger said some of the money will be used to endow coaching positions, though Geiger said this will not assure the occupants of continued employment.

The drive also will seek $75 million in unrestricted gifts.

Large Endowment

Stanford already has an endowment of about $1.3 billion, among the five largest in the country. But Kennedy pointed out that most of the endowment’s earnings are reinvested for future use, and that it generates only about $20 million a year for current expenses--only a small piece of the university’s $300-million annual operating budget.

This is the third major fund drive Stanford has mounted since 1960. Between 1961 and 1964, the university raised $114 million, helped by a $25-million grant from the Ford Foundation. Another drive, from 1972 to 1977, netted $300 million.

Universities generally do not announce major fund-raising drives until one-quarter to one-third of the goal has been achieved, and the Stanford campaign is no exception.

For instance, industrialist William Hewlett already has pledged $50 million toward construction of the new science and engineering facilities, and Dean Gibbons said he has raised the money for half of the 18 endowed professorships his school is to receive.

The Centennial Campaign still must be approved by the Stanford Board of Trustees at a meeting next week, but considering that expensive campaign brochures already have been printed, it is unlikely that the trustees will make major changes in the plan.

STANFORD’S GOAL If Stanford succeeds in reaching its $1.1-billion fund-raising goal in its Centennial Campaign, here is how the university plans to use the money:

Engineering, science facilities: $180 million

Endowed professorships: $141 million

New academic programs: $25 million

Graduate fellowships: $15 million

New research centers: $15 million

Library endowment: $10 million

Undergraduate scholarships: $25 million

Undergraduate research work: $15 million

Centennial professorships: $19 million

Interdisciplinary programs: $8 million

Public service student programs: $3 million

Residences: $16 million

Athletics and recreation facilities: $20 million

Unrestricted gifts: $75 million

Total: $567 million

Continuing gift campaign: $533 million

Grand total: $1.1 billion