Creating Futures: Good Matches

« Washington Engineer - August 2006

UW matching initiative bolsters engineering endowments

: When Lisa Wissner-Slivka (left) and Benjamin Slivka (right) gave $1 million to establish the newest endowed chair in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, the gift qualified for an additional $500,000 from Campaign UW’s matching fund program. In the past two years, the special pool of matching funds has helped the College of Engineering raise nearly $23 million for more than 30 fellowships, scholarships and professorships.

When Paul Liao, a UW doctoral graduate in Civil and Environmental Engineering, decided he wanted to open up opportunities for engineering students, he and his wife gave $1 million to create the Dr. and Mrs. Paul B. Liao Endowed Regental Fellowship.

The impact of that generous gift was significantly bolstered by a special group, the University of Washington Founders, who established a multi-million-dollar pool of matching funds two years ago to create new endowments across campus.

In the Liaos’ case, the founders provided an additional $500,000 for the fellowship, which supports students from UW Engineering and from the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan who wish to study at one another’s schools.

It’s a pattern that has been followed more than 30 times in the College of Engineering to generate almost $23 million for fellowships, scholarships and professorships, according to Judy Mahoney, assistant dean of development and external relations.

“This 1-to-2 match is a great way for our friends to see their gifts leverage additional revenue,” Mahoney said. “Those additional dollars both broaden and deepen the impact of a gift. That’s very meaningful to us because this particular support goes to our No. 1 resource in the college – our people.”

Being able to give that sort of support was important for Ben Slivka and Lisa Wissner-Slivka, who recently gave a $1 million gift to establish a new endowed chair in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering. As was the case with the Liaos, their gift received a $500,000 match. The first holder of the Wissner-Slivka Endowed Chair in Computer Science & Engineering is current department chair Hank Levy.

“As two people who have been incredibly fortunate in the field of computer science, the ability to support UW CSE with this chair was a wonderful opportunity for us and for our foundation,” Ben Slivka said.

For more information on the UW’s matching initiative, contact Mahoney.