Lilly Endowment Awards DePauw $1 Million 'Intellectual Capital' Grant

September 21, 2004

September 21, 2004, Greencastle, Ind. - Lilly Endowment Inc. today announced it has awarded DePauw University a $1 million grant in the Endowment's "Initiative to Recruit and Retain Intellectual Capital for Indiana Higher Education Institutions." In February, when the $100 million initiative was launched, thirty-seven public and private colleges and universities were asked how they can attract or keep more of the brightest and most talented minds in Indiana. DePauw is among 22 schools selected to receive the grants, which range from $500,000 to $17.5 million. The amount of each grant depends on the institution's enrollment. DePauw received the maximum amount for a school its size.

At DePauw, the grant funds will be used to enhance funding for faculty fellowships (three-year projects for course development or scholarly or creative work) and University Professorships (recognitions of sustained excellence in teaching, professional growth and service). Grant funds will also support laboratory renovations and equipment needed by new science faculty members. We will also use grant funds to attract and retain faculty members in areas of critical need through pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships. Other funds will support student-faculty collaborative research and summer science enrichment programs for high school students.

"Lilly Endowment's initiative will further strengthen some of our best programs for which we have evidence of success, " says Neal B. Abraham, executive vice president, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at DePauw University. "The Endowment's commitment to recruiting, supporting and retaining faculty members and students both recognizes the strengths of the programs we already have in place and ensures that we can meet the growing demands for further investments of this type."

Dr. Abraham added, "Lilly Endowment is a great friend to DePauw and to education in general. We're pleased that the Endowment has embraced our proposal and are confident we'll meet the initiatives' objectives of building upon the strong academic programs of DePauw which will, in turn, improve the quality of education and of life in the State of Indiana."

In February 2001, DePauw University received a $20-million grant from Lilly Endowment to establish a national technology center and launch a series of initiatives to guarantee that the university's 2,390 students, faculty, and staff will be equipped to provide the creativity and leadership required by the digital age (read more here). The name of the resulting model -- 361° -- refers to DePauw's goal that these initiatives will prepare students for every degree of life and for creating the future. 361° received a 2003 EDUCAUSE Award for Systemic Progress in Teaching and Learning, which had never before been presented to a university or college that is not a doctoral/research institution (read more here).

Last December, the Endowment awarded DePauw with a grant totaling $750,000 to fund a series of initiatives -- including the creation of a new Putnam County Economic Development Partnership Fund -- which are designed to create new economic opportunities and encourage DePauw graduates to remain in the state following graduation (read more here).

In 2002, the Endowment announced a program in which contributions made to DePauw University and other Indiana colleges and universities would be matched dollar-for-dollar. DePauw alumni, students, parents, faculty and staff were challenged by Lilly Endowment to raise up to $3.5 million, funds that the Endowment matched when members of the DePauw community met the challenge. The program was designed to encourage greater giving to Indiana colleges and universities (read more here).

"Indiana colleges and universities have performed admirably in carrying out recent Endowment initiatives," says Sara B. Cobb, Lilly Endowment's vice president for education. "They have made progress in improving the state's educational levels, but much remains to be done. This new initiative is aimed at addressing the need to recruit and/or retain the most talented faculty, administrators and students so that the synergies and excitement that bright and open minds can create together in classrooms and labs and communities will have a leveraging effect on the excellence of these schools, their faculties and students. Although there is certainly impressive intellectual talent and energy on Indiana campuses, more is needed," she adds.

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