Monetary Gift to the University

May 17, 2004

Colleagues, as the academic year comes to a close, I am pleased to announce a $1 million gift from John and Joan Monninger. John is a 1965 graduate, in economics, from our College at Florham campus.

When Rick Reiss, senior vice president for university advancement, and I met last week with the Monningers, John expressed appreciation for the education he received from FDU. He spoke movingly about the desire and obligation he feels to give back to his alma mater. The purpose of the gift is to support improvements to the library on the College at Florham campus. More importantly, we are hopeful that this gift will begin a new and sustained trend of major gift giving to all facets of the University.

A gift of this size is very exciting news, and reflects a new direction by the entire Office of University Advancement. The priority has been to identify new prospects, intensify contact, give attention to cultivation and align donor interests with institutional needs.

This is a tremendous way to end the year.