Letter from the Chair

As chair of the University of Georgia Foundation, I write to you during a particularly momentous time for the University, and I feel extraordinarily lucky to be in this position.

While it was a time of beginnings for me as a first-year chair, the University also enjoyed several significant beginnings this year. Jill S. Walton (BSA ’99, MPA ’03) became UGA’s vice president for development and alumni relations and executive director of the UGA Foundation after serving in an interim role; Adam Roell (BSEd ’10) became executive director of alumni relations; and the UGA School of Medicine became a reality, breaking ground on a new facility that will educate the physicians our state so desperately needs.

It is thrilling that these beginnings coincide with UGA’s most successful fundraising year in history: $275.2 million to support the University for generations. This amount drove our three-year rolling average to an all-time high of $258 million and it created 127 new scholarship endowments, 19 new faculty endowments, and countless other improvements to the University.

As a result, UGA Foundation assets reached $2 billion this year, making the Foundation’s task of carefully managing those assets for the betterment of the University all the more important. Our Board of Trustees is proud to assist in this duty. In FY24, the board allocated over $9.1 million to priority areas, including need-based aid, experiential learning, faculty support, and numerous facilities upgrades.

But the work we do is eclipsed by the collective effort of the Bulldog Nation. In October, we trounced the Gators on and off the field, setting a record for gifts during our annual Beat Week fundraiser. In March, we set a single-day record for gifts on Dawg Day of Giving. Our Georgia Women Give initiative—which sent 20 first-year students on study abroad trips this year through donors’ contributions—has attracted 152 donors of $25,000 or more. And the School of Medicine has already received millions of dollars to support a cutting-edge facility.

That’s a long way of saying, "I am so proud to be a Bulldog." Thank you to our donors, alumni, and friends for continuing to elevate this incredible University, and thank you to our faculty, staff, and students for doing the work that drives this institution forward.

Go Dawgs!