special supplement
Leaving a Legacy
Alumni donations and endowments expand opportunities
by Bill Sessa
Growing up in New England , the late Peter Shattuck seemed destined to teach Colonial History , which he did at Sacramento State for 33 years before his retirement in 1998 . To continue his legacy , his widow Elizabeth Shattuck created the Peter H . Shattuck Endowed Chair in Colonial American History .
Underwritten with $ 1.5 million in financing and administered through a regional foundation , the endowment brings a professor to the Sac State campus who is dedicated to creating a broad program that includes guest lecturers , symposiums and support for students to study in other parts of the country .
“ An endowment is designed to bring prestige to the university ,” says Dr . Antonio Bly , the school ’ s new Peter H . Shattuck
Endowed Chair who spent 12 years teaching Africana and Colonial history at Appalachian State University in North Carolina before arriving at Sac State last year . “ Endowments are well established at other colleges but are new to Sac State .”
Philanthropic giving at Sac State totaled a record $ 50,577,108 in FY 2019 / 20 . That total was boosted by a gift from philanthropist Eli Broad of 300 acres in Placer County valued at $ 27.4 million , the site of a future extension campus that could initially serve 500 students . It is the largest donation in the school ’ s history .
But there are many ways for the more than 260,000 Sac State alumni in the region — who contributed $ 2.4 million last year — to support the campus . Those range from payroll deductions , employer matches and pledges that are unrestricted
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