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April

AU receives gift of Airlie, a spectacular 300-acre property in Warrenton, VA valued at $18.8 million. AU will leverage the working farm, hotel, events space, and conference center for innovative academic and sustainability initiatives.

May

American University’s Museum is selected to receive a once-in-a-lifetime gift from the Corcoran Art Collection of 9,000 artworks, valued at $32 million.

September

AU launches the Sine Institute of Policy & Politics, a laboratory for university-wide collaboration and an incubator for policy innovations, made possible through a milestone gift of $10 million from Jeff Sine SIS/BA ’76, and Samira Sine.

JANUARY

AU releases Changemakers for a Changemaking World, a five-year strategic plan with four clear expected outcomes: improving retention and graduation rates, achieving operational excellence, enhancing AU’s reputation, and diversifying and growing revenue.

FALL

The university’s plans for a new state-of-the-art facility for athletics, recreation, wellness, and community-gathering are announced. The project’s launch is made possible by lead gifts from Amy and Alan Meltzer, CAS/BA ’21; Jack Cassell, SOC/BS ’77, and Denise Cassell; and the Bender Family Foundation, Inc.

FALL

Change Can’t Wait surpasses $250 million raised toward the campaign’s $500 million goal.

April

The university launches Challenge Accepted, its new brand narrative.

May

On May 12, 2021, over 1,200 members of the AU community gather virtually for the public launch of Change Can’t Wait: The Campaign for American University. Over the next 24 hours, the announcement receives nearly 20,000 views.

June

The David and June Trone Family Foundation’s $5 million gift establishes AU’s first endowed eminent scholar chair. The support accelerates AU’s leading-edge scientific work in understanding the relationship between the brain, behavior, and disease.

October

Member-supported Washington American University Radio (WAMU 88.5), the leading public radio station in the nation’s capital, celebrates its 60th anniversary. The station is an integral part of the Change Can’t Wait campaign.

SPRING

More than 500 Eagles join President Sylvia M. Burwell on a national tour to celebrate AU change makers and bring the priorities of Change Can’t Wait to life. With stops in Fort Lauderdale, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and New York, these events feature conversations about AU’s role in in addressing today’s pressing issues.

JUNE

AU announces the university’s second-largest naming gift to a capital project in AU’s history, a cumulative $15 million from Alan and Amy Meltzer to name the Alan and Amy Meltzer Center for Athletic Performance, part of the Student Thriving Complex.

AU’s largest investment in student thriving to date, the Student Thriving Complex is a $109 million initiative that will encompass student well-being resources, renovations to the Mary Graydon Center, and the Meltzer Center for Athletic Performance.

July

At the close of the FY22, AU raised $982,931 for the AU Funds for Excellence, more than double (229 percent) the amount raised for these funds in the first year of the campaign.

Winter

Change Can’t Wait’s national tour continues with stops in Miami, Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago to celebrate the campaign’s momentum and share the university’s approach to tackling today’s societal challenges with the AU community.

February

4,034 donors raise $931,320 through matches and challenges during this record-breaking Giving Day.

March

The Elevate Scholarship Initiative launches with a $25M goal and matching university investment to fund more scholarships for undergraduate students—helping to ensure every AU student has the financial resources they need to reach graduation.

April

Elyn Zimmerman’s Sudama—her reimagined monumental grouping of 450,000-pound granite boulders originally installed at the National Geographic Society headquarters—is gifted by the organization and unveiled on campus behind Kay Spiritual Life Center.

April

In recognition of a multi-million-dollar commitment from Amy Meltzer and Board of Trustee member Alan Meltzer, CAS/BA ’21, and AU friends Jaime and Andrew Schwartzberg, AU announces the renaming of the Center for Israel Studies to the Meltzer Schwartzberg Center for Israel Studies at its 25th Anniversary celebration.

April

AU announces the Shahal M. Khan Cyber and Economic Security Institute, made possible by a generous $5 million gift from Shahal Khan, SIS/BA ’95, to advance cyber and economic security.

May

A generous gift to the School of Public Affairs from Linda Fotis, CAS/BA ’78, Stephen Fotis WCL/JD ’86, and Bill Fotis honors their father’s legacy and endows the Charles W. Fotis, Sr. and Dorothea G. Fotis Family Distinguished Professor in Health Policy. Professor Erdal Tekin was appointed in May 2023.

July

Change Can’t Wait closes Fiscal Year 2023 on a high, having raised more than $414 million toward the $500 million goal.

August

The campus Tunnel reopens with new and renovated dining and retail venues as part of the Student Thriving Complex project.

September

Robert Kogod, Kogod/BS ’62, H ’00, and Arlene Kogod make a transformational $15 million gift to the Kogod School of Business to endow three eminent scholar chair positions—one each in finance, marketing, and sustainability. Professor Sonya A. Grier is named as the Arlene R. and Robert P. Kogod Eminent Scholar Chair in Marketing, and Professor Valentina Bruno is named the inaugural Arlene R. and Robert P. Kogod Eminent Scholar Chair in Finance.

September

Professor Mohammed Abu-Nimer was installed as the inaugural Abdul Aziz Said Chair in International Peace and Conflict Resolution, an endowed position to honor the legacy of the late peacebuilding pioneer Abdul Aziz Said, SIS/BS ’54, MA ’55, PhD ’57. The chair was made possible through the generosity of Said’s wife, Elena Turner Said, SIS/BA ’82, along with a matched gift from the university and support from generations of colleagues, family, friends, and alumni, including brothers from Phi Epsilon Pi, the Jewish fraternity Said championed and advised for decades.

October

AU Museum announced a generous gift from Carleen Keating, CAS/BA ’64, in memory of her late husband Nick Keating, SIS/BA ’63, MA ’64, to endow the C. Nicholas Keating and Carleen B. Keating Director position. Longstanding museum director and curator Jack Rasmussen, CAS/MFA ’75, MA ’83, PhD ’94, was named the inaugural position holder.

October

A substantial gift from Gary Veloric, Kogod/BSBA ’82, and the Veloric family to the Kogod School of Business renames the AU Center for Innovation to the Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship and creates the Gary and Nancy Veloric Event Fund to bring memorable concerts and events to campus.

December

Change Can’t Wait reaches the $450 million milestone with no signs of slowing down.

March

AU breaks ground on construction for the Alan and Amy Meltzer Center for Athletic Performance, a signature piece of the new Student Thriving Complex. The largest student-focused construction project in the university’s history, the complex will allow generations of Eagles to find and define their purpose through athletic pursuits, well-being, and connection.

Spring

Change Can’t Wait embarks on the final stretch of its national tour, starting in Los Angeles and culminating in New York City.

April

Lydecker Way and Tunnel is named in recognition of a gift supporting the Student Thriving Complex and the campaign from Board of Trustees vice chair Charlie Lydecker, SPA/BA ’85, and Christine “Chris” Lydecker, Kogod/BSBA ’86, MS ’88.

April

Honored Benefactors, university donors of $1 million or more, are celebrated at the unveiling of a recognition wall in front of Bender Library.

June

Change Can’t Wait surpasses its $500 million goal, marking a milestone of the university’s historic campaign to change the way students thrive, faculty and staff advance discovery, and the way we connect with our region and the world.