Endowment Opportunities

Growing the Endowment, Providing for the Future

Oliver Palmer '10, student-athlete & scholarship recipient

Endowments to the University provide perpetual funds for student scholarships, graduate fellowships, faculty support, the library, and a range of programs, facilities, and services. For the University of Rhode Island to thrive in the 21st century, it is essential that we grow the endowment by building a steady and permanent source of funding. Since the principal is never spent, endowment investments continually generate earnings year after year, depending on market conditions.

Faculty Support

Endowments help us to maintain and enhance URI’s tradition of faculty excellence. Examples include the establishment of chairs and professorships intended to recruit and retain accomplished scholars; support for innovative new ideas and projects; and improved classrooms and laboratories.

Scholarships & Fellowships

Private scholarship support remains the key to attracting an outstanding undergraduate student body. A gift of a named scholarship provides financial support to help bright, talented, and committed young people fund their education, both on the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Our graduate programs consistently attract outstanding students whose imagination and discipline contribute much to the research and education at the University. URI is committed to enhancing its fellowship support through endowments to continue to encourage the best students to pursue graduate programs here.

The Library—Technology and Information

The Robert L. Carothers Library is at the heart of the academic community in Kingston. Providing essential information and resources—books, scholarly journals, electronic databases and images—is a vital component to teaching, learning, and research at URI. The gift of a named Library endowment can also provide the resources to acquire and maintain special collections.

College & Department Needs

Many other opportunities are available to meet special college or department needs. The giving level is dependent upon the nature and scope of the donor’s interest. Excellence funds provide a perpetual source of unrestricted funding to meet urgent needs and new challenges as they arise. Endowed Lectures and Lecture Series provide the resources to attract to the University notable experts and leaders to expand the intellectual, cultural, and social horizons of the URI community.