Endowments

Benson Center receives $3 million National Endowment for the Humanities award

Rachel Sauer — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 21:38:09 +0000

Benson Center receives $3 million National Endowment for the Humanities award Rachel Sauer Thu, 07/23/2026 - 15:38

Award will establish endowment to support innovative academic program at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder integrating study of the Western tradition with American history, government and civics

The Bruce D. Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization at the �鶹��Ѱ�� has received a $3 million Endowments for Advancing the Humanities Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The award, which is matched by $3 million in private philanthropic commitments, will establish an endowment to support the development of an innovative multidisciplinary academic program at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder integrating the study of the Western tradition with American history, government and civics. This endowment will advance �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder's educational mission by creating a permanent source of funding that expands undergraduate curricular and co-curricular opportunities, strengthens faculty recruitment and retention, deepens K-12 partnerships and bolsters public engagement.

"This award confirms the central role of the humanities at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder," said Katherine Eggert, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “The award’s impact will extend throughout the College of Arts and Sciences. We look forward to working with faculty across the college to enrich educational offerings for all �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder undergraduates through this opportunity."

This program will build on �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder’s existing academic strengths and foster a vibrant and multidisciplinary intellectual community dedicated to the study of the Western tradition and its ongoing influence on our world today."
— Joseph Porter, Benson Center director of undergraduate studies

Joseph Porter, Benson Center director of undergraduate studies, associate teaching professor and the awarded proposal's principal investigator, said, “This program will build on �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder’s existing academic strengths and foster a vibrant and multidisciplinary intellectual community dedicated to the study of the Western tradition and its ongoing influence on our world today. I am confident it will deepen countless students' understanding of texts, events, people and ideas that have profoundly shaped the modern world.”

Endowment income will support humanities faculty in different departments and programs who will expand the Benson Center's course offerings and develop a multidisciplinary curriculum focused on the Western tradition and American history, government and civics. This curriculum will introduce �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder students to texts, events, people and ideas that have profoundly shaped America and the Western world—from the classical and Biblical traditions through the American founding to the modern age.

The program will introduce students to enduring tensions and questions within the Western tradition and deepen their understanding of both past and present through critical study of influential and transformative texts. It will equip them with the historical literacy, analytical skills and civic understanding necessary for thoughtful citizenship.

“Grants from the National Endowment support organizations and scholars working to illuminate and educate about the great ideas and events of the past,” said NEH Acting Chairman William English in an announcement of the awards. “As we celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary this year, NEH is proud to help foster robust public engagement with our national history, ideals and intellectual achievements through funding for an array of exhibitions, preservation projects, books, education initiatives and advanced research.”

The transformative award marks a significant milestone in the Benson Center's mission to expand humanistic study of the Western tradition at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder.

“We are deeply grateful to the National Endowment for the Humanities for its support, as well as to the many alumni, donors and friends whose longstanding dedication, hard work and generosity have made this award possible,” said Taylor Jaworski, Benson Center interim director and associate professor of economics. “This award will strengthen the Benson Center and advance its mission of bringing together faculty and students from across �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder with shared interests in the Western tradition.”

“We look forward to developing a distinctive academic program at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder that will inspire humanistic and civic education for decades to come,” Porter said.

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Award will establish endowment to support innovative academic program at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder integrating study of the Western tradition with American history, government and civics.

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As student-loan debt soars, endowments can help

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 19:54:56 +0000

As student-loan debt soars, endowments can help Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 04/27/2017 - 13:54

Steven R. Leigh and Kimberly Bowman

Just about three years ago, we considered the problem of student-loan debt and discussed how endowments in higher education could help solve the problem, especially for �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder. Today, we revisit that issue.

Steven R. Leigh and Kimberly Bowman

Unfortunately, the student-loan debt problem continues to worsen. Student-loan debt now stands at about $1.3 trillion, up from the $1.08 trillion reported in 2014. Comparisons to housing and credit-card debt continue to reveal the terrible scale of the problem. Sadly, recent press stories have highlighted numerous egregious abuses of commercial student loans. Many economists consider this to be the next national financial "bubble.”

We are pleased to report recent successes in the College of Arts and Sciences with respect to visionary endowment gifts. Just in the last few years, significant endowment gifts for scholarships, endowed chairs and endowed professorships have enriched our college and accelerated increases in our academic quality.

The benefits conferred by a strong endowment are impressive. For example, scholarship endowments directly alleviate student-loan debt, and these endowments have greatly aided �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder students. In the last three years, 28 new endowed scholarship funds have been set up for College of Arts and Sciences students. For instance, the late Evelyn (BA A&S ’48) and Jack Katz endowed a scholarship in 2013. Through estate distributions, their gift to an endowed scholarship in their name totals almost $1 million. This will generate scholarship support to students interested in travel and the arts for generations to come. Alumna Mary Ann Casey has also generously donated to our Global Grants endowment, and her gift has been matched by multiple donors to provide scholarship support to students who study abroad through our International Affairs Program.

These generous gifts are transforming our departments and the college, supporting our students while accelerating and expanding our research capacities. Our students will have unparalleled opportunities to learn from the very best faculty in the world. Our faculty will lead their disciplines.

Universities also use endowed professorships to pay direct salary and research costs. When coupled with scholarships, endowments help transform students’ lives and advance our internationally acclaimed research, while becoming critical elements of universities' cost-containment strategies.

Named chairs backed by endowments hugely boost a university's reputation by granting the ability to attract and reward star faculty who deliver outstanding research and educational opportunities and experiences. Thanks to a generous bequest, we hired Professor Miles Kimball from the University of Michigan to fill the Eugene D. Eaton Jr. Endowed Chair in our Economics Department.

Margaret (BA A&S ’58) and David Grohne (BS Engineering ’58), together with David Pyle (parent) have made significant current and endowment gifts to support our Center for Western Civilization, Thought, and Policy and the visiting scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy program. This support enables the college to attract faculty and fellows to complement our excellent faculty and provide diverse educational opportunities for students and the community.

The generosity of Distinguished Professor and Amgen co-founder Marvin Caruthers—one of four �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder faculty members to win the prestigious National Medal of Science—allowed us to recruit biochemistry professor Karolin Luger (a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, recently designated as an elected fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences). Luger holds the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Endowed Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry. An estate gift to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry from the late Don Segur (BA A&S ’51) establishes an endowed chair, and has been complemented by another anonymous estate gift to the department. Together, these gifts will help us compete for the world's best chemists.

These generous gifts are transforming our departments and the college, supporting our students while accelerating and expanding our research capacities. Our students will have unparalleled opportunities to learn from the very best faculty in the world. Our faculty will lead their disciplines.

Virtually every aspect of what we do is richly deserving of an endowment, from research on quantum physics in our Physics Department, to research on race and culture in ethnic studies, to studies of Shakespeare and theatre across our arts and humanities units. This includes our many centers and institutes dedicated to more specific areas of academic inquiry. We must continue to transform our college to lead the world in research, while providing our students financial freedom from debt and increasing their educational opportunities. Our priority is to continue working with our generous donors to help us succeed in delivering top-quality academics here in Boulder.

Steven R. Leigh is dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the �鶹��Ѱ��. Kimberly Bowman is assistant dean for advancement.

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Benson Center receives $3 million National Endowment for the Humanities award

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