The Chancellor’s Fund for Excellence is a dedicated part of WashU’s Annual Fund that allows us to respond to unexpected opportunities and crises. The flexibility of this fund empowers the university to be nimble in launching and sustaining current and new initiatives and provide support wherever an additional boost will have a transformative impact.
Donors who contribute $5,000 or more to the Chancellor’s Fund for Excellence will receive an annual impact report.
Areas and programs supported in 2022-23
College Prep Program
Launched with seed funding from donors 10 years ago, College Prep Program immerses talented St. Louis region high school students from underrepresented backgrounds in university life. This immersion lasts for two to three weeks each summer, and the program also offers academic support and counseling during the school year.
As of 2019, 100% of the program’s students have successfully completed high school, and 96% have matriculated straight to a two- or four-year college. Last year’s graduating cohort earned more than $4.6 million in scholarship money and received acceptances to approximately 70 colleges and universities.
Chancellor’s Career Fellows
The Chancellor’s Career Fellows Program offers a funded career-education experience for limited-income and first-generation
students. From self-analysis exercises to peer mentoring, fellows learn to take full advantage of WashU’s support for career devel-opment, internship guidance, and interview preparation, as they build community and connections.
Fellows enroll in a career-education course during the spring semester, followed by a Summer Success Workshop, while receiv-ing personalized advising. Most important, they receive a summer stipend to help pay their living expenses while they undertake career-oriented research, work at an internship, or take on other projects related to their professional development.
During 2022-23, 93 Chancellor’s Career Fellows interned in 22 cities, 16 states, and three countries, with 41% accepting opportunities outside their hometowns.
In 2022-23, CCF students interned in 22 cities, 16 states, and 3 countries. Here is a sampling of the organizations where they worked.
- Barnes-Jewish Hospital
- Boeing Company
- Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
- Enterprise Holdings
- Mano a Mano Family Resource Center
- Mastercard
- United States Senate
- Yale University
School of Continuing and Professional Studies
WashU’s former University College is now the School of Continuing & Professional Studies (CAPS). This new name reflects our commitment to serving university students for whom education is one of many competing responsibilities. The Chancellor’s Fund for Excellence helped CAPS launch this new phase of professional education at WashU, which will help the university meet the region’s needs for a skilled workforce.
CAPS now enrolls more than a thousand students. Whether the students are new to college or returning after receiving degrees, CAPS recognizes that modern learners have particular strengths and challenges, and it sees both as opportunities for student growth.
Quantum faculty cluster hire
Quantum theory has profoundly changed both our understanding of the natural world and the technologies we use every day—from the Internet and mobile phones to GPS navigation and HD television. Washington University is poised to lead in this area through the Center for Quantum Leaps (CQL).
With support from the Chancellor’s Fund for Excellence, we have launched a cluster of faculty searches to recruit experts in the quantum sciences: one in engineering, one in medicine, and two in physics. Through this initiative, two new Arts & Sciences faculty were recruited, and the university plans to announce their names soon. They bring expertise in quantum information science, ultra-cold atomic physics, and condensed matter physics.
The Center for Quantum Leaps will further strengthen WashU’s position as a leader and an innovator in technologies that will change our world for the better.
Learn about WashU’s new Center for Quantum Leaps, an Arts & Sciences initiative that aims to harness the power of quantum mechanics and transdisciplinary research to decipher some of the universe’s greatest puzzles.
When you give to the Chancellor’s Fund for Excellence, you further enhance WashU for our students and our community at large.
If you would like to make a contribution to this transformative fund, please contact Mandy Ray, executive director of engagement and annual giving, or use the link at right to make an online gift.
Donors who contribute $5,000 or more will receive an annual impact report.