Texas A&M Foundation 2019 Annual Report
Welcome to the Texas A&M Foundation’s 2019 annual report.

Year in Review
All it took was one Benjamin Franklin. In 1953, the Texas A&M College Development Foundation was formed with an initial $100 in assets. Today, the total value of the endowments held in the Texas A&M Foundation’s long-term investment pool is nearly $1.9 billion, thanks to the incredible generosity of Aggie former students and friends over the last 60-plus years. This fiscal year, your gifts allowed us to make $108.1 million available to Texas A&M University for the benefit of students, faculty, colleges and programs.
During this fiscal year, there were many reasons to celebrate philanthropy. We witnessed the opening of the Zachry Engineering Education Complex last fall, a truly phenomenal 21st-century facility that redefines engineering education, made possible by countless gifts. Contributions also named the James Benjamin Department of Accounting and created the Albritton Center for Grand Strategy at the Bush School of Government and Public Service, a new institution that will study U.S. foreign policy.
At the Foundation level, we celebrated a milestone of our own: 50 years of the President’s Endowed Scholarship program. These four-year scholarships, awarded to high-achieving high school seniors, help attract the best and brightest minds to Texas A&M. Since 1968, gifts to this program have helped more than 6,350 Aggies attend our university.
As we enter the last year of the Lead by Example campaign, it’s safe to say that we have one more cause for celebration: We are pleased to announce that more than $3.67 billion has been raised toward the $4 billion campaign goal. We feel confident in crossing the finish line by Dec. 31, 2020, and we thank you for your undying dedication to the future of Texas A&M, which brought us this far.
While you study the financial charts that follow, keep in mind that statistics can never tell the true story of philanthropy at Texas A&M. They can’t communicate the heartfelt pride our organization has in its mission or how far the Aggie culture of philanthropy has come. They can’t recognize specific names, gifts or milestones, nor can they detail the relationships that members of our organization cherish with each of you. They can’t explain the individualized passions and motivations behind each gift, but they can—and do—say something grand about the collective power of giving back.
Thanks for leading by example.
Otway Denny Jr. ’71
Chairman of the Board
Otway Denny Jr.Tyson Voelkel '96
President & CEO
Tyson Voelkel2019Lead by Example Campaign
Individual donors who have contributed to the campaign
Corporate/foundation donors who have contributed to the campaign
Gifts made to the campaign
2019Foundation Financials
in fiscal year 2019
in fiscal year 2019
Total donors
Total number of gifts received
Total value of gifts received
Average gift value
Range of gift value

The A&M Legacy Society
The A&M Legacy Society recognizes individuals, corporations and organizations whose cumulative giving through Texas A&M University, the Texas A&M Foundation, The Association of Former Students, the 12th Man Foundation and the George & Barbara Bush Foundation totals $100,000 or more.
New Members
Total Members
Legacy
Heritage members in the A&M Legacy Society are individuals who have included a gift for the benefit of Texas A&M in their estate plans.
Heritage
Number and Value of Gifts by Class Year
4,274 former students made 7,774 gifts to the Texas A&M Foundation totaling more than $114 million during fiscal year 2019.
Total value of gifts received from former students during fiscal year 2019
Giving by Donor Location
More than 12,000 gifts totaling more than $149 million came from donors residing in Texas. Donors in Colorado gave 100 gifts totaling more than $7.9 million, while donors in Ohio contributed 150 gifts for more than $5.2 million—making those states second and third in total gift value, respectively. Sixty-five gifts came from donors living overseas.





2018
$111,100,000
Annual total for fiscal year 2018
2019
$108,130,000
Annual total for fiscal year 2019
Total value of planned gifts documented
Number of planned gifts documented
Range of gift value
Value of realized gifts during fiscal year 2019
Value of realized gifts in the last 10 years
Endowment Values by Unit
Shown below is the value of each unit’s endowment held by the Texas A&M Foundation for the benefit of Texas A&M University as of June 30, 2019. The combined value of these endowments totals more than $1.58 billion.
*Includes Texas A&M University Press, KAMU-TV, Reed Arena, non-designated endowments and endowments with split beneficiaries.
Endowment Performance Over Time
The Texas A&M Foundation invests endowments using asset allocation to maximize growth while safeguarding capital during tough economic times. The chart below illustrates the market value of a $100,000 endowed scholarship created in 1999 and its cumulative value of student stipends. This single endowment would have paid out approximately $5,000 annually for a total of $100,932 by 2019. Its market value after 20 years would be $132,298.
Long-Term Investment Pool Growth
The long-term investment pool (LTIP)—which has a total value of nearly $1.9 billion—has consistently met or exceeded our portfolio management guidelines, resulting in both the growth of funds available to Texas A&M University and the asset size of the portfolio. The LTIP is composed mostly of endowments, but also includes other non-endowed funds invested for the long term.
Investment Performance
The Foundation has a solid record of investing. Over the years, investment performance has consistently met internal performance goals and outperformed many peer organizations, ranking in the first or high second investment quartile.
Long-Term Investment Pool Asset Allocation
By investing assets, the Foundation seeks to preserve the purchasing power of gifts while providing steady earnings for Texas A&M. The Foundation’s long-term investment pool, which has a total value of more than $1.8 billion, is composed mostly of endowments, but also includes other non-endowed funds invested for the long term.
2019Impacts
Every gift makes an impact. Here’s a look at how some of your gifts are benefiting Texas A&M University students, faculty, colleges and programs.

A Center for Strategy
The Charles Koch Foundation and Texas A&M University System Regent Robert Albritton ’71 provided multimillion-dollar gifts to establish the Albritton Center for Grand Strategy at the Bush School of Government and Public Service. The new center serves as an intellectual hub for the critical examination of America’s grand strategic choices.
Read More
Helping Future Healers
Sue and Joe Knowles ’50 committed the largest scholarship gift in the history of Texas A&M health sciences. Their $7 million planned gift will create scholarships for both College of Medicine and College of Nursing students.
Read More
Life-Changing Experience
Jane ’76 and Bill Thomas ’75 committed a $3 million gift to endow Field Camp in the Department of Geology and Geophysics in the College of Geosciences. Field Camp is a required three-week experience for students enrolled in GEOL 350 that expands Aggies’ knowledge of geology. Thanks to the couple’s gift, students will now attend free of charge.
Read More
The Selling Point
Reynolds and Reynolds dedicated a $4 million endowment to name the Reynolds and Reynolds Sales Leadership Institute in Mays Business School. The interdisciplinary program will teach students from across Texas A&M University about the importance of sales and how to apply leading-edge sales strategies and technology to their future careers.
Read More2019Initiatives
The Texas A&M Foundation matches your interests to funding priorities, no matter what your passion. Below are a few of our major fundraising initiatives for the coming year.
Support Physicianeers
Texas A&M is leading the way toward the future of health care with its one-of-a-kind Engineering Medicine, or EnMed, program. EnMed is a graduate school option developed in partnership between the colleges of engineering and medicine along with Houston Methodist Hospital to foster “physicianeers”—a new kind of physician with the engineering prowess to develop world-changing health care technology.
EnMed students simultaneously earn fully-integrated engineering and medical degrees in four years. Responding to the rapid advances in technology, this new type of medical education prepares professionals with the clinical skills to diagnose symptoms and treat patients, along with the engineering mindset to solve problems, invent new technologies and rapidly move these innovative ideas to practice in patient care.
As it continues to expand, EnMed seeks scholarships for student enrollees and faculty chairs for professors leading the program. Furthermore, funding is needed to support awards for student capstone projects with commercial potential.
To learn more about supporting EnMed, contact Reagan Chessher ’96, senior director of development, at (979) 862-6415 or rchessher@txamfoundation.com or David Boggan ’79, senior director of development, at (979) 436-0811 or dboggan@txamfoundation.com.
Learn MorePrepare Aggie Intelligence Leaders
Upon the direct recommendation of the late President George H.W. Bush, the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University has made intelligence studies a core focus of its academic mission. Since its inception in 1997, 31-year CIA veteran James Olson has led the Bush School’s intelligence studies program, and approximately 300 Bush School graduates have entered intelligence careers.
Students pursuing intelligence studies take part in a rigorous two-year curriculum that emphasizes hands-on skills, foreign language, intelligence, research and public service. The Bush School combines this well-rounded academic curriculum with practitioner faculty like Olson.
To continue producing principled leaders of character for careers in national intelligence, enhancements must be made to secure the school’s position as a leading force in the field. The school seeks funding for recruiting and hiring seasoned practitioners with intelligence experience as well as intelligence fellows to engage with students on subjects not currently covered in the curriculum. Given the growing number of students interested in intelligence careers, the Bush School also seeks to expand the courses offered in this area.
To support the Bush School’s intelligence studies program, contact Michael Bottiglieri ’89, senior director of development, at (979) 458-8035 or mbottiglieri@txamfoundation.com.
Learn MoreLet’s Grow Together
Vision continues to become reality at the Leach Teaching Gardens on West Campus, where plans to grow the space severalfold are underway. As designs for the next 20 acres take shape in architects’ sketchbooks, the project seeks to engage members of the community who are interested in planting the seeds for its second phase.
Phase I of The Gardens at Texas A&M University opened to the public in 2018 and has already hosted more than 3,000 people of all ages on formal tours. Even more visitors have dropped in just to enjoy the seven-acre green space, which includes welcoming sites for teaching, research and outreach. Twenty-one themed gardens boast numerous species of trees, ornamentals, herbs and other horticultural plants.
The next 20 acres, Phase II, will continue to advance education, culture, discovery and wellness while embracing community outreach. Features may include a family garden, floral displays and a reprise of The Grove outdoor venue. Donations at every level help keep The Gardens blooming and support internships and programs, while there are also naming opportunities for current and future gardens.
To support The Gardens, contact Allyson Tjoelker ’02, assistant vice president for development, at (979) 458-7929 or atjoelker@txamfoundation.com. Learn more at gardens.tamu.edu.
Give NowStrengthen Student Veteran Resources
Throughout Texas A&M’s history, Aggies have consistently stepped up when called upon to serve their country. Of the numerous veteran resources offered on campus, three prominent programs are seeking financial support:
• The Veteran Aggie Leaders for Outreach and Resources (VALOR) program is a mentorship program that connects incoming veterans with experienced student veterans to help ease the transition back to civilian life. While endowments of $25,000 or more will support the program, a $500,000 endowed gift would make VALOR self-supporting.
• The Student Aggie Veteran Enhancement Fund (SAVE) is an emergency fund awarded in times of crisis to help student veterans remain in school when financial circumstances threaten to force them to drop out. Donations at any level will help support this fund.
• The Aggie Shields program is a student organization that collects used textbooks to fill the Veteran & Dependent Textbook Loan Library, removing the financial burden of buying textbooks from veterans’ shoulders. During the past six semesters, Aggie Shields saved student veterans and their family members more than $314,800 in textbook costs. The program needs approximately $20,000 per year to operate. While gifts to support one or more years of operations are welcome, a $500,000 endowed gift would make the program self-supporting.
To learn more about supporting these programs or other student veteran resources, contact Dave Fujimoto ’17, director of development, at (979) 458-2634 or dfujimoto@txamfoundation.com.
Learn more2019Thank You
When the Lead by Example campaign publicly launched in 2015, we asked our donors to imagine a grand vision for Texas A&M University: a vision in which the values that define our beloved university guide its evolution into a premier destination of higher learning. This last year, you remained steadfast in your commitment to make that vision a reality. As we enter the campaign’s final stage, we thank you for your endless enthusiasm, your humbling generosity and your undying dedication to the future of Texas A&M.