FAU Foundation Enjoys Record-Breaking Year

Philanthropy is essential to the growth and success of every university, and FAU is fortunate to have a support system of donors whose generosity has grown exponentially in recent years. I am happy to share that fiscal year 2020-21, which ended June 30, was our best year ever for charitable giving! This is especially impressive considering the challenges of the past year-and-a-half related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 6,800 donors gave $56.5 million to the FAU Foundation in fiscal year 2020-21. This is a nearly 70 percent increase over the previous year, and a more than 100 percent increase from five years ago. Gifts both large and small from alumni, faculty and staff, and friends of the university contributed to this major milestone. I sincerely thank all of our donors for their generosity. Their gifts helped to support student scholarships, our world-class research enterprise, and a variety of programs to help our students succeed.

Our largest gifts from the past fiscal year include:

• A transformational $20 million — the largest gift in FAU history — from Kurt and Marilyn Wallach to support Holocaust, human rights and Jewish studies education programs. The Kurt and Marilyn Wallach Institute for Holocaust and Jewish Studies on the Boca Raton campus will be named in their honor.
  
  
• A $10 million gift from David J. S. Nicholson to support neurological and mental health research and education. FAU’s Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute on the Jupiter campus is named in his honor.
  
  
• A multimillion-dollar gift from Arthur Gutterman to support FAU’s Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education on the Boca Raton campus. It was renamed the Arthur and Emalie Gutterman Family Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education in his honor.

We also received large gifts from Nathalie and William Comfort for the Pierrepont Comfort Chair in Political Science, and Myrna Gordon Skurnick to establish the Myrna Gordon Skurnick Theatre Lab Playwriting Program and Creative Writing MFA Fellows. Additionally, an anonymous donor gave $2.5 million to support the Schmidt Family Complex for Academic and Athletic Excellence. Each of these donors have made a tremendous impact on the university and I am delighted that their generosity will be recognized in perpetuity.

This monumental accomplishment is the result of the hard work and dedication of the Division of Institutional Advancement staff and the FAU Foundation Board of Directors. I truly appreciate their efforts and congratulate them on a record-breaking year.