Clark-Nexsen: A Model of Success
“ODU is now competing for top students with other leading universities. One of the ways we can level the playing field is to offer sizable scholarships to these students. As employers of Old Dominion graduates, we will certainly benefit from the enhanced pool of possible future employees.” Ken Stepka ’74, CEO and vice president of Clark-Nexsen, an engineering and architectural firm, made these comments when he joined forces with other alumni at the firm to establish the Clark-Nexsen Dominion Scholarship for an engineering student. Each gift made by an alumnus is matched by the company.

Nancy Brown
Junior English major Nancy Brown is a returning, nontraditional student. After being away from the classroom for 20 years, it was with trepidation that she resumed her studies. Her persistence has paid off: she is the recipient of the James Harrison Parker, Lewis and Virginia Webb, and Caroline Heath Tunstall-Elizabeth Calvert Page Dabney scholarships. “Through my example I want people to know, especially women, that it is possible to go back to school. Embrace change! There are so many that contemplate change and never go for it. Old Dominion fosters an environment for students who want to return to school. My scholarships have made the transition much easier. Thanks to my donors’ generosity, I can focus on my studies instead of worrying about my economic situation.”

How Endowed Scholarship Funds Produce Income for Students
Named scholarships are established according to the wishes of the donor and in accord with university policies. The funds are invested, and scholarships are awarded from a portion of the interest income. The remaining interest is reinvested with the original gift, which is never invaded, ensuring the scholarship will last in perpetuity.

A $31,050,000 scholarship fund investment will provide approximately 480 partial scholarships or 240 full scholarships.

Changing Lives: The Campaign for Old Dominion University

When Kim ’82 and Keith Curtis ’83 recently pledged $50,000 to establish a scholarship for Changing Lives: The Campaign for Old Dominion University, they did so out of strong feelings for their alma mater.

“ODU has changed our lives by helping us get where we want to go,” said Kim, a former student senator and member of Pi Beta Phi sorority and the Honor Council. “The advantages of such a diverse student body and the opportunities offered by this vibrant urban university are priceless. This region offers so much and just continues to get better.”

In establishing the endowment to help kick off ODU’s new capital campaign, the Virginia Beach couple used criteria important to them. The scholarship will be awarded to a full-time student in the College of Business and Public Administration who is involved with campus activities and organizations, maintains a minimum 3.0 grade point average and has demonstrated financial need.

Keith, like Kim, was active in student life during his ODU days. He is a former student body president and member of Kappa Alpha fraternity. The two met when they worked as Preview counselors.

They remain dedicated ODU basketball fans and are staunch supporters of their community. Keith runs his own fund-raising consulting company, The Curtis Group, and Kim is a partner with Southern Trust Mortgage.

They encourage others to follow their lead in support of the capital campaign.

Stepping Up to the Cause

Prabhav Maniyar (M.A. ’85) earned a master of economics degree and embarked on a highly successful career in banking and business. Currently the CFO for Startec Global Communications and a member of the university’s Board of Visitors, he established the Prabhav Maniyar Endowed Scholarship in the College of Business and Public Administration.

Now a senior vice president with PaineWebber, Nora Barnes ’76 was a political science graduate. In 2003 she established the Nora Barnes Endowed Scholarship in Political Science, which will provide tuition funding for a student in the College of Arts and Letters majoring in political science.

A graduate of the Darden College of Education, Rick Conrad ’70 is now president of Verizon Wireless Northeast Region. Verizon will match his gift, doubling the value of his contribution.

Ulysses Turner has both a daughter and son who are graduates of Old Dominion University. In honor of his daughter and inspired by his son’s Presidential Scholarship, he established the Jessica Rhea Turner Scholarship in Human Services Counseling.

Robert W. Loy ’63, a 1996 recipient of Old Dominion’s Distinguished Alumni Award, along with his wife, Nortrud, recently established a charitable gift annuity to support a scholarship endowment in the College of Sciences honoring the late Professor Calder Sherwood III.

Anne Wood played on the women’s basketball team in the 1930s. Unfortunately, the Great Depression forced both Ann and her husband William to abandon their college educations. Nonetheless, they established highly successful careers in real estate. In 2003, Anne Wood continued her involvement with ODU by establishing the William E. Wood Jr. Memorial Scholarship. This is an unrestricted fund to support athletic scholarships.

Programs Create Opportunities

University Libraries
Perry Library is a dynamic, modern community center for learning and information. It is the power source for all the university’s core disciplines. Without the library, education would not happen. Collections – retrospective and current, old and new materials, traditional and nontraditional sources, print and digital – all come together in the University Libraries as both a physical and Web presence. Collections are the essence of the research library. A $1 million investment will provide $40,000 annually to support the libraries programs.

Film and Video Festival
Establishes in 1988 as a small grass-roots festival on the ODU campus, with 500 attendees, the Film and Video Festival has evolved into a weeklong, community-wide event that features more than 25 films, lectures and activities. More than 3,500 guests attend festival events in venues on campus and throughout the region. A $500,000 investment will provide $20,000 annually to support the costs of festival.

Engineering Design Competitions
National and international engineering design competitions provide students an opportunity to participate in real-world engineering and problem-solving experiences. An investment of $1.5 million will result in $60,000 of annual support for competition costs.

Places to Learn, Places to Gather

University Theatre $750,000
College of Arts and Letters
Located in the Technology Building, the 300-seat University Theatre requires equipment upgrades to replace antiquated lighting and soundboard. Additional improvements will enhance audience spaces and production areas. Productions often complement coursework, regularly appearing on syllabi across the college. In fact, many of our students involved in theatre productions major in a variety of disciplines and go on to have various careers such as teachers and lawyers.

Driving Lab $500,000
College of Sciences
The Driving Research Center will conduct programmatic studies in a variety of safety and navigational aids to ensure the safest possible driving conditions. Because drivers over the age of 65 are the fastest-growing segment of the driving population, maintaining safe mobility is critical for health and social well-being through the development of better driver assistance technologies and tools.

Research includes the safe evaluation of advanced, in-vehicle collision avoidance systems, navigational systems and adaptive automated controls such as cruise control and displays to counteract the negative effects of driver fatigue.

Research Center $2,000,000
College of Health Sciences
The addition of a Clinical Research Center will promote interdisciplinary research projects and collaboration among faculty. The focus of research at the center will be largely in the area of health promotion and disease prevention. Also, recognizing the rising cost of health care, increasing emphasis and funding will be directed toward research designed to improve health and quality of life while keeping costs down.

The center will provide a clinical setting for students and faculty to conduct research in dental hygiene, nursing, physical therapy and medical laboratory sciences.

Tennis Center $2,100,000
The Old Dominion University Tennis Center will be the home for the men’s and women’s teams, serve the university community and host many tennis events and activities. Various tennis programs including lessons, clinics, tournaments, leagues and other organized play will be offered to the Hampton Roads community. A special emphasis for the center will be junior tennis development.

The center will feature 13 outdoor courts (six lighted), permanent shade areas, 1,500 championship court seats, a state-of-the-art electronic scoreboard, umpire chairs, on-court seating, vinyl-coated fencing and other accessories.

Alumni Center $1,000,000
The most important goal of the Alumni Association is to engage ODU’s more than 90,000 alumni and bring them back to campus. In order to successfully achieve this goal, alumni must have a home on campus. This was realized with the opening of the Barry M. Kornblau Alumni Center in April 2004.

A priority for the campaign, the center was completed in anticipation of reaching the $1 million goal for the facility. We are close to realizing this goal, with approximately $250,000 remaining to be raised. Your support will enable the Alumni Association to successfully complete the Kornblau Alumni Center and implement an exciting new era for your alma mater.

The Power of Professorships
Hollywood knows adding a well-known actor to a movie’s lineup guarantees some level of ticket sales at the box office. Similarly, attracting outstanding faculty to the university helps to attract the best students. Top faculty and top students bring new resources in the form of sponsored research funding. Exciting and valuable research attracts new business to the community. Ultimately, the creation of a significant resource base will result in successful economic development within the region and state.

In order to attract and retain top faculty and researchers, substantial investment is required; that investment will return considerable benefit to Old Dominion University, Hampton Roads and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Largest Planned Gift of Any Alumnus
Robert M. Stanton ’61, a well-known Hampton Roads real estate developer, Old Dominion University alumnus and former ODU rector, recently made the largest planned gift, $1.5 million, of any alumnus in the university’s history. His donation serves as the lead gift in a campaign to create a $4.5 million endowment, which will establish the Robert M. Stanton Chaired Professorship in Real Estate and Economic Development.

“I hope that this record remains standing no longer than 15 minutes,” said Stanton, who, as one of the earliest members of the university’s Educational Foundation board helped to increase the Educational Foundation endowment to its current $115 million.

The endowment for the Robert M. Stanton Chair will eventually total $4.5 million. It includes a $1.5 million matching gift from Frank Batten, retired CEO and founder of Landmark Communications. Batten, who recently gave $32 million to the university, inspired Stanton with his generous gift. The fully endowed fund will provide $180,000 annually to support a program and professor.