S.I. Newhouse Foundation commits $10 million matching challenge to Newhouse School to establish Dean’s Leadership Fund

S.I. Newhouse Foundation commits $10 million matching challenge to Newhouse School to establish Dean’s Leadership FundNovember 02, 2007Jaime Winne Alvarezjlwinne@syr.edu

The Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation Inc. has made a commitment of a $10 million matching challenge to the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. The commitment will establish the Newhouse Dean’s Leadership Fund, which will provide Newhouse Dean David Rubin’s successor discretionary funds to pursue his or her vision for the school.

The foundation’s commitment is to match gifts on a 2:1 basis. If the University and the Newhouse School raise $5 million for the fund, the foundation will give the $10 million matching challenge, establishing a $15 million fund.

The foundation’s commitment was publicly announced today at the official kickoff of The Campaign for Syracuse University, the most ambitious capital campaign in the institution’s history with an anticipated goal of $1 billion.

The Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation was established by S.I. Newhouse Sr. and has continued to support the Newhouse School for more than 40 years. In addition to the $10 million matching challenge for the Newhouse Dean’s Leadership Fund, the foundation donated a lead gift of $15 million toward Newhouse III, a $31 million, 74,000-square-foot addition to the Newhouse School Complex. Newhouse III was officially dedicated on Sept. 19 and further supports the Newhouse School’s status as one of the top communications schools in the nation. The Newhouse Foundation has also provided more than $5 million to support other academic initiatives and programming within the school.

The total of these gifts brings a combined philanthropic commitment of more than $30 million by the Newhouse Foundation as part of The Campaign for Syracuse University, making the foundation the campaign’s largest contributor to date.

“The high standard of excellence of the graduates of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications has made an immense contribution to the field of public communications,” says Donald E. Newhouse, president of Advance Publications Inc. “We are happy to continue our support of the outstanding work of the Newhouse School.”

“This generous gift from the S.I. Newhouse Foundation will allow the new dean unrestricted dollars to activate his or her vision for the Newhouse School and provides an extraordinary asset for its future and continued excellence,” says SU Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor. “We are grateful to the Newhouse family, who are truly remarkable models of philanthropy through their continued support and commitment to the Newhouse School and Syracuse University.”

For more information on The Campaign for Syracuse University, visit http://campaign.syr.edu.