Carlos Slim to Fund Scholarship for Graduate Students
A recipient of the George Washington University President's Medal in 2009 and an honorary degree in 2012, philanthropist Carlos Slim is funding a new scholars program at GW.
International business leader and philanthropic leader Carlos Slim, HON '12, will fund full-tuition scholarships for George Washington University graduate students studying engineering, business, and international affairs. The Carlos Slim Foundation Scholars Program, a partnership between the Fundacion Carlos Slim and GW, will recruit five graduates from Mexican universities.
The program will provide students with practical experiences to help them understand the significance of leadership and communication in influencing public policy. The program also will connect students to international economic institutions and influential political and thought leaders while allowing hands-on learning through summer internships, travel opportunities, and cultural enrichment.
Each scholar will be paired with an academic adviser who will help guide their educational experience and a mentor to oversee their practical experience. Students also will gain intensive leadership training and participate in team-building activities.
Carlos Slim Foundation Scholars will be selected from graduate students who have applied for admission to a graduate program in the School of Business, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, or the Elliott School of International Affairs. The recipients must be graduates of a Mexican university, and selection will be based on their undergraduate academic achievement and leadership experience.
"The Carlos Slim Foundation Scholars Program embodies Mr. Slim's commitment to empowering Mexican youth through education," says President Steven Knapp. "It will offer these future leaders a unique opportunity to combine rigorous graduate studies with direct exposure to government and business in the heart of this nation's capital."
Mr. Slim's extensive philanthropic work through his foundations has included investments in education, health, and the fine arts. Mr. Slim was awarded the George Washington University President's Medal in 2009 and received an honorary doctoral degree in 2012.
International Alumni Group Gives to Gelman Library
The Taiwan Resource Center is expanding its research materials thanks to a gift from an invested group of graduates: the Taiwan Alumni Association.
The association donated $15,000 to support the resource center, which is a part of the Gelman Library's Global Resources Center that collects materials related to the political, socio-economic, historical, and cultural aspects of countries and regions around the world. The Taiwan collection contains print materials and electronic databases in Chinese, English, and Japanese related to the history, politics, economy, public policy, national security, and foreign relations of Taiwan.
The donation will go directly to support subscriptions for the full-text electronic databases in the Taiwan Resource Center that are available to GW students, faculty members, and researchers. Filled with full series of newspapers, periodicals, documents, and other cultural materials, these databases are not available as a group anywhere else in the United States and serve as a core of the TRC collection.
During a November trip to Taiwan—one of the 150 countries around the world where alumni live—university representatives joined members of the Taiwan Alumni Association to celebrate the gift. Association president Alexander Huang, PhD '94, one of the 745 GW alumni living in Taiwan, spoke during the check presentation ceremony and said that, "We are all part of one family."
To learn more about how you can support the GW Libraries and its collections, contact the GW Libraries Development Office at gwlibdev@gwu.edu, 202-994-1163, or go.gwu.edu/gwlibraries.
New Gifts: Philanthropy Reaches Across GW
Several recent gifts are supporting a number of areas of the university. Among them:
GW Power & Promise Fund
• Allen K. Harris, Esq., BA '65, has made a planned giving commitment of $1.17 million that will establish the Allen K. Harris Annual Scholarship in History in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.
• GW trustee David Karlgaard, DSC '74, and his wife, Marilyn, committed an additional $1.8 million to the Karlgaard Scholarship in Computer Engineering and the Karlgaard Scholarship in Computer Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
• Cavert K. McCorkle, RESD '79, a former neurological surgery resident at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, has included an approximately $2 million gift to GW in his estate plans. His gift will support medical school scholarships and the Department of Neurological Surgery.
• Mary M. Miller, MBA '81, and members of her family established The Margaret Lavin Miller and William Keller Miller Endowed Scholarship at the Elliott School of International Affairs through a $100,000 pledge. The endowment honors their mother Margaret, BA '47, and their father, a career Foreign Service officer. The need-based scholarship will go to an undergraduate female student enrolled in the Elliott School.
• Judith F. Morales, RESD '78, has made a bequest commitment of approximately $550,000 that will both provide for student financial aid in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences and establish the Francisca C. de Morales Endowed Scholarship for undergraduate student aid. The endowment honors her mother and will create a need-based scholarship.
• School of Engineering and Applied Science Advisory Board member and GW parent Nick Paleologos, BS '69, and his wife, Suellen, have pledged an additional $400,000 to the Nicholas G. Paleologos Scholarship Fund, which supports undergraduate civil engineering students.
• David Whitcombe established a $110,000 charitable gift annuity through a real estate gift to support the Lucy Kim Whitcombe Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund in the School of Business. The scholarship fund honors the memory of his late wife who was a 1983 graduate of the Benjamin Franklin University, now part of the GW School of Business.
Other Gifts and Pledges
• Howard R. Roberts, BS '55, MS '57, PhD '62, and his wife, Marilyn, have funded a charitable gift annuity, designating the remainder gift to the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.
• Glen Ballowe, BS '49, and his wife, Mary, have given $300,000 to support the Science and Engineering Hall.
• The American Bureau of Shipping has pledged $225,000 over three years to support the research of Professor Stephen Hsu in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Professor Hsu's work is related to the application of coatings to the hulls of ships. ABS's CEO is alumnus and GW parent Christopher Wiernicki, MS '83.
• Richard J. Salerno, BS '75, has pledged $1 million through a bequest in support of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
• A longtime patient of Bob Jayes, associate professor of medicine at SMHS and director of the Medical House Call Program at Medical Faculty Associates Inc., has made an anonymous bequest of $160,000 to educate and support geriatricians in the GW Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine in the practice of in-home care.
• Constellation Foundation donated $450,000 to the Law School to launch an energy law and policy initiative that will develop ideas and train leaders on legal and policy issues in the electric energy field. Secured thanks to the leadership of Charles Berardesco, JD '83, former senior vice president and general counsel for Constellation Energy, the gift will also support a program coordinator position for the initiative.
• Funded by a gift of $132,000 from George Washington Libraries Development Advisory Council member Andrew Oliver, the new Oliver Reading Room on the sixth floor of the Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library is now a multipurpose space. A classroom, event space, and collaborative study space and reading room for students and researchers, it also houses a portion of the Andrew Oliver Book Collection for Classical and Near Eastern Studies.
• School of Engineering and Applied Science National Advisory Council member Pat Marolda, MS '86, pledged $50,000 in support of the Science and Engineering Hall. His gift will be matched by the Amey Challenge, a $1 million challenge match funded by Scott Amey, MS '75, and his wife, Deb.
• GW School of Business Board of Advisors member, Brian Herrman, BBA '77, and his wife, Cherie, have made a $250,000 gift to start the Brian and Cherie Herrman Global Initiatives Fund within the School of Business. This fund will provide support for strategic priorities in international programming at the dean's discretion.
• Fadi Ghandour, BA '81, recently renewed his support to the Elliott School of International Affairs Institute for Middle East Studies and the Aramex Student Fund with an additional $50,000 commitment. The fund supports Elliott School students pursuing summer internships at local NGOs in the Middle East.
• The School of Public Health and Health Services has received its first seven-figure gift—$1 million from S. Jay Hazan, MA '49—toward construction of the school's new home on Washington Circle.
