Message From The Campaign UW Chair

William H. Gates ('49, '50)

Since Dan Evans (’48, ’49), kicked off the Students First matching gift initiative nearly 18 months ago, UW friends and alumni have enthusiastically responded to this program, creating nearly 150 scholarship and fellowship funds for UW students. Need-based Students First scholarships and fellowships are already making a difference in the lives of many of our students by helping them achieve their academic goals and reducing the financial burden of a college education.

The amazing response to the Students First initiative is just one of many things we can be grateful for as we head into the homestretch of Campaign UW: Creating Futures. At the UW Foundation Board meeting on Jan. 25, I had the pleasure of announcing that we reached our campaign goal of $2.5 billion, five months ahead of schedule! For that accomplishment, we have to thank the nearly 250,000 generous friends and alumni who have contributed to the campaign.

To keep a great enterprise like the University of Washington on a continued course of excellence, we must keep the momentum going in the remaining months of the campaign and beyond. There are countless opportunities to partner with the UW to make a difference in the world. One way is through scholarships, which are critical in paving the way to a college education for students like Merri Andersen, who once believed that a UW education was out of reach financially, and Thomas Xuan Le, who is making medical care easier for patients whose first language is not English. Your continued support will allow these UW students, and others like them, to become forces for change at home and around the world.

Thanks for your support.

  Bill Gates