By Julia Mace, UC Foundation

    Benya Coleman, A&S ’26, and Silas Curry, CECH ’27, say that without the support of the Marian Spencer Scholars Program, they would not be enrolled at the University of Cincinnati.

     Minutes away on the UC Health campus, nurse practitioners, therapists, nutritionists and social workers at the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute improve the lives of patients with ALS and provide multidisciplinary personalized care.

    What these students and patients have in common is they were supported by donors to Next, Now: The Campaign for Cincinnati. The University of Cincinnati Foundation’s fundraising campaign for UC and UC Health officially ended in June, having raised $2.19 billion in overall donor support.

    The campaign was launched publicly in 2019 in conjunction with the university’s Bicentennial year.

Scholarships transform lives: Campaign donors provided paths to student success by creating 793 new scholarship and fellowship funds during the life of Next, Now. This includes the Marian Spencer Scholars, a program that provides 10 Cincinnati Public School graduates a year with full UC tuition, room and board, and additional resources and experiences. The program is in its third year, and there are currently 30 Spencer Scholars.

    “I would not have been in college without the scholarship,” Coleman says. “I’m able to become a doctor, which is my dream career. I am beyond thankful, and I hope in the future I can do something like this for someone else.”

     During the campaign, the university received the largest donation to scholarships in its 200-plus-year history from the estate of Hugh H. Hoffman, MBA ’63. Hoffman’s $56 million estate gift created the Hoffman Honors Scholars program across three undergraduate colleges and will also provide support for UC student-athletes. The inaugural cohort of 12 Hoffman Honors Scholars will begin in the 2024-2025 academic year.

During the life of the Next, Now campaign, 37,287 unique donors contributed to scholarship funds at UC.

Hoffman estate supports UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute ALS patients.

    The Hoffman estate also gave $13.5 million that will revolutionize research and patient care related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at the ALS Multidisciplinary Clinic at the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute.

    This gift will impact nearly 200 patients in the Tri-State region each year. Since the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute opened its standalone outpatient facility in 2019, clinicians have provided care for more than 80,000 patients across 1,800 United States zip codes.

    “ALS care at UC continues to grow in scope of care and research opportunities,” says Robert Neel, MD ’00, a specialist in ALS and autoimmune neuromuscular disorders and director of the ALS Multidisciplinary Clinic. “The Hoffman gift has opened new research doors already, and we have recently hired our dietician and counselor to help with care. Both are scheduling patients. I have never been so excited to be in this field.”

     Evolving student and patient spaces: UC’s campus has transformed since the Next, Now launch. The College of Allied Health Sciences, Carl H. Lindner College of Business and College of Law have new student-focused spaces and buildings. The list of new facilities includes Clifton Court Hall, the university’s largest classroom building, serving the College of Arts and Sciences.

    Donors also supported new facilities, patient care initiatives and research at UC Health, Greater Cincinnati’s academic health care system. Philanthropic investments allowed for the construction of the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute’s new outpatient facility as well as renovation of the inpatient Neuroscience ICU and construction of a new state-of-the-art emergency department at UC Medical Center.

     The new University of Cincinnati Cancer Center Blood Cancer Healing Center, also powered by philanthropy, hosts 30 inpatient beds, outpatient clinics, 24-hour symptom support, infusion therapies, stem cell and cellular therapies and 40-plus clinical trials.

     Faculty research and scholarly innovation: Through the campaign, donors invested in research, innovation and the work of UC faculty members. This includes creating 33 new chairs and professorships to recruit and retain faculty excellence; 29 of these positions were endowed.

    Other gifts expanded new lines of research into areas like cancer treatment. A collaboration between BSI Engineering and the nonprofit GIVEHOPE created a pilot grant program for research at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center. These pilot research grants, awarded annually to investigators studying the causes, disease path and treatment for pancreatic cancer, are now a key pipeline for early-stage research that can lead to national funding and clinical trials.

    This philanthropic partnership has made it possible for nine faculty researchers to launch 18 new studies into the causes and treatments of cancer.

     A new era for UC Athletics: Donors propelled UC Athletics forward at the start of the campaign by funding renovations at Nippert Stadium and Fifth Third Arena. The Day One Ready campaign supported UC’s more than 450 student-athletes as part of the university’s move to the Big 12.

    UC Athletics celebrated the largest gift in its history from Larry and Rhonda Sheakley, spearheading the multimillion-dollar Indoor Practice Facility and Performance Center. This facility will feature a 120-yard field, nutrition station, weight room and sports medicine offices, among other amenities. It will be the permanent, all-weather home for UC football to train year-round, and a versatile practice facility for other UC sports.

    The upgraded men’s and women’s basketball team facilities at Fifth Third Arena, including locker room enhancements, were funded entirely by donors.

     The generosity of Bearcat supporters established student-wellness initiatives involving access to mental health services and additional registered dieticians.

     Donors supporting the Women’s Excellence Fund immediately impacted female student-athletes by increasing each team’s nutrition budget, recovery tools, special equipment and facilities.

    Additional campaign facts:

• 165,378 donors gave to the campaign.
• Donors were from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and 49 countries.
• 92.3% of gifts were under $1,000.

    The Foundation’s previous campaign, Proudly Cincinnati, raised $1.1 billion by its June 30, 2013, close.

    Neville G. Pinto, President, University of Cincinnati, said: “Our Bearcat family of donors and alumni has made a vast impact by supporting our students through scholarships, soaring new spaces, and life-altering opportunities for our student-athletes. This benevolent partnership has positioned us as we embark on the next 200 years of UC greatness.”

    O. Richard Bundy, III, President, University of Cincinnati Foundation: “Our donors have demonstrated a commitment to excellence, ensuring that no one has to leave Cincinnati to receive the best possible education or world-class health care. Their generosity has allowed us to break through to the next level in academics, athletics, research, technology, innovation and culture.”

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By Michael Miller

Public Information Officer

University of Cincinnati

The University of Cincinnati celebrated its summer commencement Friday with an enthusiastic crowd of family and supporters at Fifth Third Arena.

Two NFL players are among this year’s UC graduates: Tyler Scott, a wide receiver for the Chicago Bears, and Chris Moore, a wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals. Scott was part of the 2021 Bearcat team that made it to the College Football Playoff. He attended the ceremony in person Friday.

All 22 former UC players in the 2024 NFL class are graduates.

Also graduating Friday was Mike Harris, who contributed to the UC men’s basketball team’s Elite Eight appearance in the 1993 NCAA tournament. Harris walked in the ceremony to celebrate his degree in criminal justice from UC’s College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services.

UC also celebrated its first graduate, Gabrielle Williams, in the new College of Cooperative Education and Professional Studies.

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Contributed

The University of Cincinnati celebrated fall commencement Friday, recognizing more than 2,500 graduates during a ceremony at Fifth Third Arena.

UC awarded 2,515 degrees, including 196 associate degrees, 1,141 bachelor’s degrees, 1,044 master’s degrees and 132 doctoral degrees along with two professional certificates, according to preliminary numbers from UC’s Office of Institutional Research. (Some students earn multiple degrees.)

This semester UC had the highest percentage of out-of-state students since 2016. And 14% of grads are first-generation college students.

UC has also seen an increase in the number of students earning advanced degrees. UC celebrated the most students earning master’s and doctoral degrees since the fall of 2016. Many of these come from UC’s College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services, which has seen a surge in information technology majors.

Fall graduates hailed from every state but Maine and New Hampshire and 30 countries across five continents.

About 3% of graduates are military veterans or dependents of veterans. And 66 students this fall are graduates of Cincinnati Public Schools.

In his commencement address, UC President Neville Pinto addressed the theme of change as graduates close one important chapter of their lives and look forward to new beginnings.

“What was it that changed you here?” he asked.

Perhaps, he said, it was living in a new place. Or maybe it was witnessing international events or tragedies or living amid a global pandemic. Or maybe it was something more personal, he said.

Pinto encouraged grads to be agents of change for the better. 

“I can’t wait to see how you do that,” he said.

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Michael Miller

www.uc.edu/news

NFL defensive rookie of the year Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner and NBA All-Star Nick Van Exel celebrated commencement Friday, Aug. 4, at Fifth Third Arena as members of the University of Cincinnati’s summer graduating class of 2023.

Sauce led the UC Bearcats to the College Football Playoff before becoming the highest draft pick in UC history, going fourth overall to the New York Jets in 2022.

Van Exel led the Bearcats to the 1992 Final Four and the 1993 Elite Eight of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament before taking the Los Angeles Lakers to the playoffs and earning a spot on the 1998 NBA All-Star Team.

Both are now graduates of UC’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Other photos on this page from the commencement are also by Andrew Higley/UC.

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By Cedric Ricks

University of Cincinnati

Communications

The University of Cincinnati College of Law celebrated its 189^th Hooding Ceremony on May 20 in Fifth Third Arena. Verna L. Williams, dean and Nippert Professor of Law, lead the ceremony, where 146 degrees were awarded — a number that includes 128 juris doctor degrees and 18 LLM (master’s) degrees. This year’s ceremony was the first held fully in-person since 2019.

Andrew Savage, vice president and deputy general counsel of digital media at Adobe Inc., delivered the keynote address. Savage, a 1988 alum of the UC College of Law, has been a legal executive in Silicon Valley for more than 16 years. Savage currently leads a team that has global legal responsibility for Adobe Digital Media (Creative Cloud, Document Cloud, Stock, Behance), Sensei, AI/ML, Adobe IO and partner ecosystems, Adobe Research and Adobe Design.

Founded in 1833, the University of Cincinnati College of Law has the distinction of being the first law school west of the Alleghenies. Originating from humble beginnings 175 years ago in a room above Timothy Walker’s law offices to its home today, Cincinnati Law has been on the leading edge of legal education. Thousands of lawyers have graduated from the law school and about one-third practice in the Greater Cincinnati community, working in all areas of the law.

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By Michael Miller

University of Cincinnati

Communications

The University of Cincinnati celebrated a record-setting spring commencement on Friday and Saturday in ceremonies at Fifth Third Arena.

UC recognized a record 7,080 graduates at its two-day celebration, which began Friday with a Doctoral Hooding and Master’s Recognition Ceremony. UC celebrated two undergraduate ceremonies on Saturday.

UC conferred 7,188 degrees to 7,080 graduates, based on preliminary applications. (Some grads have earned multiple degrees.) UC presented 541 associate degrees; 4,600 bachelor’s degrees; 1,477 master’s degrees; 270 doctoral degrees and 300 professional degrees.

UC recognized a record 1,201 first-generation college graduates. About 17% of this year’s class are the first in their families to graduate from college. Another 14% transferred from another university. UC also celebrated a record number of online degrees awarded at 894.

Graduates hail from 83 countries across six continents. The spring class features students from all 50 states. But 71% of UC’s 2022 graduates are from Ohio. The class represents 78 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

The youngest student grad, earning an associate degree, is 17. The oldest is 66.

The average age of a student earning a bachelor’s degree this year is 23. About 58% of spring graduates are women. And 195 students are U.S. military veterans or the dependents of veterans. The spring class includes 190 students who graduated from Cincinnati Public Schools.

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