GIVING

The University of Nevada School of Medicine offers friends and alumni a number of ways to support the school's excellence in statewide medical education and patient care and in producing biomedical knowledge and technology.  The medical school's Development Office oversees all fundraising for the school.  Information on current fundraising projects and specific giving vehicles is below.  For additional information contact: 

Stefanie Scoppettone, Ph.D.

Director of Development

775.682.9143

scops@unr.edu

Christina Sarman

Director of Development

775.784.6009

christinas@unr.edu

Wendy Nelson
Director of Development
University of Nevada School of Medicine
2040 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 400
Las Vegas, Nevada  89102
702.671.2240 Voice
702.418.9191 Cell
wbnelson@medicine.nevada.edu

ENDOWED POSITIONS

An endowed position in higher education is a primary means of recognizing academic distinction, and enables the university to attract, retain, and honor distinguished faculty.  This type of position is supported by income from an endowed fund established through gifts from private sources.  The School of Medicine received one of the earliest endowed positions in the University of Nevada system, and would be greatly strengthened by the addition of additional named positions through which faculty achievements in research, teaching, and service could be recognized and rewarded.  Below are the thresholds for establishing endowed positions:

• Dean’s Chair - $5 million - A dean’s chair will provide a holder of the deanship with the resources necessary to continue and further the college’s contributions to teaching, research, and public service.  Support monies will be used for such purposes as salary supplement, graduate assistant stipends, administrative assistance, travel expenses, and other college requirements.

• Chair - $2.5 million - A chair will provide a distinguished scholar the opportunity to continue his/her contributions to research, teaching, and public service through salary supplement and program support.

• Distinguished Professorship - $1 million - A research professorship is intended to supplement salary and research expenses for distinguished faculty with significant research qualifications and research projects.

• Professorship - $500,000 - A professorship is intended to recognize and support the teaching, research, and service activities of distinguished faculty without the requirement for demonstration of particular emphasis on research.

• Distinguished Visiting Scholar - $300,000 - The distinguished scholar endowment is intended to fund a visiting eminent scholar.

ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPS

Endowed scholarships provide critical financial support for medical students.  In recent years, UNSOM graduates have carried almost $120,000 in debt.  Last year, the School of Medicine was able to award almost $900,000 to medical students through support from endowed scholarships.  In addition, these awards allow the school to attract the best and brightest applicants to the School of Medicine program. 

A named scholarship exists in perpetuity as a memorial to the donor or the person honored.  The University Foundation endows scholarships at a level of $10,000 or more.  Once the $10,000 principle or corpus of the endowment is established, the scholarship itself is paid from a portion of the interest income.   Any remaining earned interest is reinvested with the principle, allowing the endowment to grow over time. 

The minimum endowment amount of $10,000 can be made with a single gift or contributed in a series of pledge payments over one to four years.  In addition, contributions can be made to already established endowed scholarships in any amount from those wishing to support deserving students.  Please contact the development office for more information on establishing a fund or on contributing to already established funds.

WILLIAM N. PENNINGTON HEALTH SCIENCES EDUCATION BUILDING

The William N. Pennington Foundation has committed $10 million to build the new 59,000-square-foot William N. Pennington Health Sciences Building.  With an additional $5 million in private support and $33 million in state funding, the project opened in August 2011.  This project will allow for the eventual expansion of both the Orvis School of Nursing and the medical school and will facilitate interprofessional and interdisciplinary education in the health sciences. 

Naming opportunities throughout this building are still available from as little as $500 for furniture to higher levels for labs, offices and classrooms. Please contact the development office with any questions about this facility or about how to contribute to the project. 

CENTER FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE AND THE WHITTEMORE PETERSON INSTITUTE

The Center for Molecular Medicine, is the first new medical research facility on the medical school campus in nearly 30 years. Nestled between the current basic science research quadrangle at the School of Medicine and McCarran Boulevard, the Center for Molecular Medicine will house the research programs in cancer biology, infectious disease, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal disease and neuroscience's and serve as the headquarters for the Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease and the University of Nevada, Reno’s Center for Aging. For more information on how you can support research and clinical services housed in this building please contact the development office. 

PLANNED GIFTS

There are a number of options for individuals wishing to provide for the School of Medicine through estate gifts.  As with all estate and tax matters, you should seek qualified legal, tax and financial advice in developing your plan.

The following are a few of the gift options available:

• Charitable Gift Annuity Program

• Charitable Lead Trusts

• Charitable Remainder Trusts

• Life Insurance

• Living Trusts

• Real Estate

• Remainder Interest in Home or Farm

• Retirement Accounts

• Wills

ANNUAL GIFTS
The Annual Giving program within the School of Medicine provides an opportunity for alumni and friends to give back to the school on a recurring basis. Unrestricted funds from this program provide scholarship, programmatic and capital support that wouldn’t be feasible without the generosity of many alumni and friends of the school.  The School of Medicine has had a rich history of support from its alumni.  Continued support will allow the school to realize its goals of making medical education available to larger classes in the future. Although there is a formal mail and phone solicitation each spring, gifts can be made to the annual fund throughout the year.

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