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Sponsored by the ½­ÄÏÌåÓý Alumni Association, the Alumni Awards are the university’s highest alumni honors. Recipients are selected based on their exceptional professional and civic contributions and for their outstanding support of the university. The 2022 Alumni Award recipients include six alumni and one student.

½­ÄÏÌåÓý launched the public phase of its $350 million Forever Brighter comprehensive fundraising campaign in October 2021, and during the first year of the public campaign, a record-breaking $77.6 million was raised. This philanthropic feat was made possible with the support of 10,687 donors, 3,753 of whom made a gift to ½­ÄÏÌåÓý State for the first time.

The ½­ÄÏÌåÓý alumni family will grow by more than 1,200 new graduates as the university holds its summer commencement ceremonies. The accomplishments of the Summer Class of 2022 will be recognized with in-person, outdoor commencement ceremonies and a virtual commencement ceremony on Aug. 20.

½­ÄÏÌåÓý State’s Division of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement launched the university’s most ambitious fundraising campaign, called Forever Brighter, last October, creating communications and fundraising materials that share the remarkable impact of alumni engagement and donor philanthropy on the university. The division has earned 19 marketing and communications awards from multiple competitions. 

George L. Jenkins, a 1963 graduate of ½­ÄÏÌåÓý, and his wife, Gina, of Scottsdale, Arizona, have pledged $1 million to create the Gina and George Jenkins Student-Athlete Scholarship Fund that will support student-athletes in any varsity athletics program or team sponsored by ½­ÄÏÌåÓý State’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. 

½­ÄÏÌåÓý alumnus Earl K. Miller, Ph.D., and his wife, Marlene M. Wicherski, have pledged $2 million to support research programs and students in ½­ÄÏÌåÓý State’s Brain Health Research Institute. The Brain Health Research Institute is a recently established, cross-disciplinary institute that focuses on research and education of brain health across the lifespan.

During its regular quarterly meeting held Wednesday, Dec. 15, the ½­ÄÏÌåÓý Board of Trustees approved naming resolutions for 17 spaces to be located in the future Crawford Hall based on philanthropic gifts of $100,000 or more. An additional nine named spaces were approved by ½­ÄÏÌåÓý State President Todd Diacon that were below the required Board approval threshold.

The ½­ÄÏÌåÓý State alumni family grew by more than 2,400 new graduates as the university held its fall commencement. The accomplishments of the Fall Class of 2021 were recognized with in-person commencement ceremonies and a virtual commencement ceremony for all colleges and degrees on Dec. 17-18.

This year, ½­ÄÏÌåÓý donors demonstrated the power of philanthropy by giving at unprecedented levels. The 2021 Giving Tuesday campaign shattered the previous records, more than tripling last year’s record of $2.2 million.