Insight/Report on Private Giving

Spring 2003

Message from the Dean

Dear Friends,

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank each of you for all that you have done for the College during the past year. 2002 was a banner year for the College, with the grand openings of the Robert H. and Mary G. Flint Animal Cancer Center, the Shipley Natural Healing Center, the Argus Institute for Families and Veterinary Medicine, and the Gail Holmes Equine Orthopaedic Research Laboratory. None of this would have been possible without your support, both financially and personally.

It is my honor to announce that we have ended the year with a special gift of $2.5 million from the Walton Family Foundation. The Walton family's generosity, through Alice Walton, will be used to strengthen programs and provide additional services, equipment, and personnel in the areas of equine orthopaedics and equine reproduction. We are very grateful to the Waltons for their gift and look forward to a rewarding partnership.

I want to thank Dr. Lynn Leadbetter, from the PVM Class of 1943, for his $100,000 gift to fund scholarships for PVM students. Dr. Leadbetter wanted his scholarships to go to students who are in financial need and also less academically qualified than some of their peers. Dr. Leadbetter notes he was one of those students, and though he has done just fine for himself, remembers the struggles of those early days in veterinary school. We sincerely appreciate Dr. Leadbetter's funding of student scholarships, and feel privileged to count him among the College's friends and colleagues.

In 2002, we received a very special gift from Barbara Cox Anthony, a long-time friend of the College. Her donation of $6 million went to create two endowed chairs in equine orthopaedics and oncology. We are proud to announce that Dr. Wayne McIlwraith has been named to the Barbara Cox Anthony Chair in Equine Orthopaedics and that Dr. Robert Ullrich has been named to the Barbara Cox Anthony Chair in Oncology. This prestigious honor is a reflection of the personal character and dedication of both of these individuals. We thank Barbara Cox Anthony for her visionary thinking and her gracious generosity.

This year also saw the completion of the College's 25-year plan. While we may not know exactly what the future holds for the College, by planning for that future we will be better able to control it. As someone once said, those who fail to plan, plan to fail. We would rather not be in the latter group, so we have put together a comprehensive plan for the south campus, including the James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Private donations will continue to be important in helping us to achieve our goals and keeping our College a national and global leader in veterinary medicine and the biomedical sciences.

Private support will be especially critical in the years to come. As many of you have read or heard or experienced, the State of Colorado is in a significant economic downturn and budgets are being slashed. Colorado State University is no exception. We have gone beyond belt-tightening and moved into a full-fledged high protein diet - no fat, no carbs! At the College, we have always worked hard to be responsible stewards of money we receive both from state and federal funds, and from private donations, but we will redouble our efforts to squeeze out value wherever we can.

In closing, I'd like to go "off-topic" and give a special thanks to all the pet owners who write to the College telling us of the extraordinary care their pets received while at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Your words give us comfort and cheer, and provide moral support to those working at the front lines. We appreciate your kindness and kind words.

Thanks again to all of you who contributed so generously to the College during the past year. I look forward to seeing you in 2003.

With Best Wishes,

Lance E. Perryman, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Dean