2014-2015 Annual Report
The 2014–15 year was a pivotal one for our University. We celebrated a milestone achievement in reaching the $1.2 billion goal of our first comprehensive capital campaign since 1924. Thanks to the extraordinary support of more than 51,000 members of our University community—trustees, faculty, students, alumni, parents, friends, and staff— we were able not only to ensure the success of The Meliora Challenge: The Campaign for the University of Rochester, but we also leveraged our momentum in order to set our goals even higher.
We have set an ambitious agenda. During the most recent academic year, we convened several leadership and advisory groups to chart our course for the next five years. The result was The Next Level, a strategic planning document that lays the foundation for how we will advance our standing among the leading research universities in this country.
Our plans outline four key initiatives that we believe will be most effective in accelerating our progress during the 2016–20 period. Those areas are data science, neuroscience and neuromedicine, humanities and the performing arts, and the revitalization of our community.
We have already taken consequential steps in each area, but we are just embarking on this great endeavor.
Our early success is a testament to the extraordinary progress that we have made during the past 10 years. Thanks to the unified commitment of our board, volunteer leaders, alumni, friends, faculty, students, and staff, we are a significantly stronger University than we were a decade ago.
The support of our University community has been made manifest across the campuses: we have nearly doubled the number of endowed faculty professorships; we have created 344 endowed scholarships and fellowships; we have new facilities to enhance our missions in learning, performance, teaching, research, and patient care. Among the most recently completed projects are the Ronald Rettner Hall for Media Arts and Innovation and Raymond F. LeChase Hall—home to the Warner School of Education. Most notable among all of our Campaign’s capital projects is the largest in University history: the 245,000-square-foot Golisano Children’s Hospital, which opened in July 2015.
We have much to be proud of, and we are grateful to all members of our community for their support and for their generosity. The excitement for the future is palpable. In the spirit of our motto, Meliora, I am confident that we will not tire in our efforts to become an ever better University.
Our work has but begun!
—President Joel Seligman
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