A Tradition of Giving
The history of capital giving to Yale
1718: The Naming of Yale College
Elihu Yale, a London businessman who had amassed a fortune while serving the East India Company and as governor of Madras, sent the Collegiate School (the future Yale College) 417 books, a portrait and coat-of-arms of King George I, and nine bales of goods worth 562.12 pounds sterling. The trustees of the school, hopeful of receiving future gifts, named a newly erected building, and so also the Collegiate School itself, after Mr. Yale. He died in 1721 before any further contributions could be made.
1732: The First Scholarship at Yale
Yale's first scholarship program was created in 1732 with income from Bishop George Berkeley's gift of a ninety-six-acre farm at Whitehall, near Newport, Rhode Island. It was for the support of students of postgraduate studies at Yale, and counted among early recipients such illustrious graduates as Eleazer Wheelock, the first president of Dartmouth College; Eugene Schuyler, the first American Ph.D.; and Josiah Willard Gibbs, the renowned scientist. The first scholarship for undergraduate education was established in 1823 with a gift of $5,000 from David Curtis DeForest.
1756: The First Endowed Professorship
Philip Livingston, Second Lord of Livingston Manor, New York, donated 28 pounds sterling to Yale in 1745 "as a small acknowledgement of the sense I have for the favour and Education my sons have had there." Four Livingston sons had been educated in New Haven, one of whom became a future signer of the Declaration of Independence and another of whom went on to be the first governor of New Jersey. Although originally intended for repairs or a new building, the donation was used in 1756 by President Thomas Clap to establish the Livingstonian Professorship of Divinity, the first endowed professorship at Yale.
1918: The Sterling Legacy
John W. Sterling, an 1864 graduate of Yale, left the institution a bequest of $15 million upon his death in 1918. At the time, it was the largest donation in the University's history. The bequest financed a massive construction project (the building of the Sterling Chemistry Laboratory, Sterling Hall of Medicine, Sterling Memorial Library, Sterling Law Buildings, Sterling Divinity Quadrangle, Sterling Tower, and the Hall of Graduate Studies), and established a range of endowed funds for 36 professorships, in addition to scholarships and a fund for the maintenance of the Sterling buildings.
1917 - 1950: The Harkness Family and the Residential Colleges
Between 1917 and 1950, Mrs. Stephen V. Harkness and her son, Edward S. Harkness (B.A. 1897), made gifts and bequests that supported construction of eight residential colleges in the late 1920s and early 1930s, among other purposes. The Harkness family's generosity made possible the establishment of the residential college system that has become a determining factor in the Yale experience and in the quality of undergraduate life.
1961 - 1979: Endowment Campaigns
In the decades between 1961 and 1979, the University benefitted from several fundraising campaigns. The Program for the Arts and Sciences (1961 - 64) was a successful but focused effort, while the Campaign for Yale (1974 - 79) not only was the largest fundraising initiative for any educational institution to that time, but also was the first truly comprehensive campaign.
1965 - 1999: Paul Mellon Gifts and Bequest
Paul Mellon's principal gifts to Yale between 1965 and his death in 1999 set a series of records as the largest contributions to Yale. The full scope of his philanthropy to Yale is nearly impossible to summarize, encompassing educational programs (such as Directed Studies), the construction of Morse and Ezra Stiles Colleges, and major works of art. His gift in 1965 established the Yale Center for British Art and included the building as well as the core of its collection.
1992 - 1997: The "...and for Yale" Campaign
The five-year capital campaign launched on May 2, 1997, raised a total of $1.71 billion for campus renovations, endowment, and current use. This was the largest sum raised by a university campaign at that time. Individual donors gave a remarkable $1.203 billion to Yale, or 71% of the campaign total. The Campaign resulted, among other funding, in the establishment of endowments for 46 new professorships, 319 undergraduate scholarships, and 108 fellowships in the Graduate and Professional Schools, in addition to other teaching funds and support for collections, research, and student activities.
Capital Gifts
Impact of Giving
For further information, please contact:
Yale Office of Development:
P.O.Box 2038
New Haven, CT 06521-2038
(800) 395-7646
Fax: (203) 432-5685
e-mail: development.gifts@yale.edu
