CORNELL NOW
Cornell Now--2015
CAMPAIGN NEWSMake a 'grandchildren gift' in support of sustainability
Pat and David Atkinson. Photo: University Communications Marketing
According to recent polling, 83 percent of American adults say protecting the world's ecosystems is important. Another poll shows a record-high 71 percent of American adults say they take the environment into consideration when making purchases. The David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future's (ACSF) vision statement mirrors that attitude: "To create a world in which people can meet their needs and pursue their dreams without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same."
The development of a loyal, generous group of supporters for ACSF is still nascent. It was established with a commitment from David and Pat Atkinson to provide an endowment ($50 million) that ensures the center's permanence and anchors its research program funding, enough to launch eight to 10 multidisciplinary projects annually. This past year, 38 researchers from 18 departments in six colleges participated in the center's projects.
But the Atkinsons, along with center director Frank DiSalvo and more than 350 ACSF Faculty Fellows, have a bigger end game in mind: reliable support from many, and growth. The center today is able to fund eight to 10 projects a year, only about a third or fewer of the 35 to 50 proposals it receives annually. They hope to increase funding capacity of these by around 20 percent by the end of 2015.
Leaf with dew. Photo: Studio 10. See larger image
The Atkinson Center is a promising place to invest philanthropically, says DiSalvo, based on its track record of research and innovations, the emergence of sustainability as a major point of interest, and the fact that the center is one of the largest and most active interdisciplinary programs at Cornell, bringing together chemists with engineers, city planners with nutritionists and biologists, and more. It is also the largest and most comprehensive center of its kind in American academia.
Perhaps its most impressive statistic? For every dollar ACSF spends, about $7 in research funding comes to Cornell, mostly from government agencies. Making an impact is the goal of all ACSF programs. To speed delivery of research-based solutions, the center is building relationships with nonprofits that have on-the-ground capacity, including CARE, Oxfam and The Nature Conservancy, as well as with corporations and state and federal government agencies.
In late 2013, the Atkinsons made another major gift ($12 million) to the center to endow its directorship and provide challenge funds ($1 million each) for each of the three faculty directorships – one for energy, one for environment and one for economic development – the three areas around which ACSF organizes its work.
The positions, which will carry the names of donors' choosing, will have a faculty member appointed to them on a three-year rotation. They are currently held by eminent, midcareer professors: Todd Cowen, civil and environmental engineering, Alex Travis, reproductive biology, and Wendy Wolford, development sociology. Endowing the positions will boost their profile and the amount of time faculty directors can devote to ACSF, which will advance efforts to develop collaborations with outside organizations. Each gift of $2 million unlocks $1 million from David Atkinson to endow each of these positions at the $3 million level.
"Building a sustainable future is about enabling our grandchildren (yours and mine) to flourish in a world that we know will be quite different than the one in which we grew up," DiSalvo says. "A world that will be increasingly determined by human activities and value systems. Hopefully, our grandchildren will think us wise for helping to create the world they will inherit. A gift to the Atkinson center is a down payment on their future."
The center also has received gifts from Kathleen Marble '63, who this year provided $75,000 and has for several years supported the center's Academic Venture Fund. Other recent gifts included $27,000 from Pat '84 and Barbie Murphy '84 and an $8,000 gift from Kim Erle '87.
"Gifts of all sizes matter," says Chris Miller, director of development for ACSF. "There are so many people who care about creating a sustainable future and so many people who are recognizing how urgent these issues are. When they also realize the impact their contributions could have when directed to Cornell, both the Atkinson Center and partner programs in the colleges will soar. We only have a few dozen donors annually today, and we'd like to have a lot more."
– Emily Sanders Hopkins
Roger Strauch '78, left, and Hans Strauch, B.Arch. '80. Photo: Provided. See larger image
For the past several years, Hans, B.Arch. '80, and Roger Strauch '78 have made a yearly gift to the College of Architecture, Art and Planning to fund a visiting critic in the Department of Architecture who focuses on environmental and sustainable design. Now, thanks to a $750,000 gift from the brothers, the position will exist in perpetuity.
"Sustainability is so important to the future of design that it needs to become part of the vocabulary – threaded into the normal course of all design work and not a specialization," Hans Strauch says. "Roger and I know this will take time, but we believe that Cornell is the place to push for this new future. Here, sustainability will be brought to a much higher level than it would be elsewhere."
Starting in fall 2014, the endowed Strauch Visiting Critic in Sustainable Design will be at AAP for one semester each academic year. The critic will focus on issues of environmental impact, conservation and sustainability within the field of design. Previous Strauch critics include Greg Keeffe, Claudia Pasquero, Marco Poletto and Christiane Sauer.
– Becca Bowes
Infographic by Wendy Kenigsberg/University Commnications/Marketing. See larger image
