Our Journey to the Next Horizon A Record Year in Fundraising
In January 2019, FIU launched the public phase of Next Horizon, the comprehensive $750 million campaign that is fueling its next phase of progress as a leading public research university.
$67M+
highest fundraising year for FIU, more than 18% above last year
$4.3M
for first-generation scholarships, with state match
$34.9M
in cash, most raised during the campaign
$31M+
most $1M+ gifts in FIU history in a given year
$23.3M
raised by Corporate Relations, exceeding $13M goal
$9.6M
in planned gifts
29.5%
increase in the quantity of gifts
$41M
raised for student success, of which $12M went directly to student scholarships
82% participation rate in the Ignite Campaign for faculty and staff, raising $5.4M; highest in the state of Florida for the last 3 years
Unprecedented progress advancing our university
Next Horizon’s profound impact on the lives of students and work of faculty.
$5 million from Trish and Dan Bell to help build an interfaith chapel on campus, which will serve as a gathering place for worship, contemplation, spiritual strengthening and mutual understanding. The chapel will hold up to 250 people and include meeting space.
$1.3 million from TheDream.US, which provides scholarships to students who have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status or Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
$1 million from Baptist Health South Florida to support the Green Family Foundation NeighborhoodHELP program.
$1 million from Badia Spices, Inc., to create the Badia Spices Scholarship Endowment at the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management. Funds will be used to recruit and retain students, particularly those who are first-generation college students or who demonstrate financial need.
$2 million from husband and wife doctors Jeffrey Simmons and Yolangel Hernandez Suarez to establish the Simmons+Hernandez Suarez Fellowship Program at FIU Embrace. The fellowship supports professionals employing interdisciplinary approaches to solve multifaceted issues facing adults with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.
$2 million from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to support CasaCuba.
$1 million in support of the Deloitte Foundation-Sabater Endowed Scholars Program within FIU’s College of Business.
Gifts of art from the Green Family and Historical Design, a gallery based in New York City, were made in support of the private collections of the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum and The Wolfsonian–FIU, respectively.
Driving student success and research excellence
Private philanthropy provides vital resources to support experiential learning and a student in need as well as research impacting our community and nation.
15 programs in the top 50 in the nation among public universities
99% of tenured faculty hold doctoral degrees or the highest degrees attainable in their fields
RESEARCH 1 Carnegie Foundation Classification Doctoral University–Very High Research Activity
Nearly $200M in annual research expenditures
#15 among U.S. public universities and #33 in the world in patent production
4.2 average high school GPA of incoming freshman class
1,287 average SAT score of incoming freshman class
$9B annual economic impact
A team of FIU marine biology students tagging juvenile sharks in the Florida Everglades as a part of a research project to track their movements and better understand their behavior.
A Year of Heightened Progress
The Florida Board of Governors designated FIU as an “emerging preeminent state research university.” Introduced in 2013, the Florida Preeminence program elevates and rewards the highest-performing state research universities based on student success and research performance metrics. Three of Florida’s 12 public universities have met these standards. In 2016, the “emerging preeminent” status was created, allowing designated universities the opportunity to create a plan to reach “preeminent” status.
The FIU Board of Trustees and the Florida Board of Governors approved FIU’s Next Horizon 2025 Strategic Plan. The plan focuses on FIU’s aspiration to be recognized as a top 50 public university for achieving exceptional student-centered learning and upward economic mobility, producing socially impactful research and creative activities, and leading transformative innovations locally and globally.
The Florida Board of Governors approved a public-private partnership to establish an alumni and conference center and hotel on FIU’s main campus. The $66 million project is privately funded and will include a 13,700-square-foot alumni center, approximately 33,000 square feet of meeting space and a 150-bed hotel. South Florida’s first university-affiliated conference center and hotel is expected to open by the fall of 2021. The alumni center is being funded with private donations as part of the Next Horizon campaign.
Antony Page was named the third dean of the College of Law, joining FIU from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, where he was vice dean and professor. Page’s tenure at McKinney followed years of public service, including as a diplomat in the Canadian Foreign Service. He is an acclaimed teacher and scholar in corporate law, and his works have been published in high-impact journals and cited by numerous courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Page received his JD from Stanford Law School, his MBA from Simon Fraser University, and his BComm from McGill University.
Dr. Robert Sackstein was named the second dean of the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and the senior vice president for health affairs. He came to FIU from Harvard Medical School, where he was a clinician, researcher, and educator for more than 20 years. As both a basic and clinical scientist, his research has yielded strategies to optimize cell-based therapeutics to regenerate damaged tissue and combat cancer. Born in Cuba, Dr. Sackstein was raised in Miami, received undergraduate, MD, and PhD degrees from Harvard, and completed his residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital/University of Miami.
It was a historic, spirited day for FIU Football. On December 21, 2018, the Panthers defeated the Toledo Rockets 35-32 in the exciting Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl. Under the leadership of Head Coach Butch Davis, the Panthers achieved their second bowl victory, and the football program established a new FIU record for most wins in a season (nine). Off the field, FIU Athletics continues to raise the bar, as student-athletes posted the three highest grade point averages on record in the last three semesters — an average of 3.28. FIU student-athletes posted a conference-high 246 members on the Conference USA honor roll (3.0 GPA or higher).
For fiscal year 2018-2019, the FIU Foundation’s managed investments portfolio returned 5 percent. The endowment market value as of June 30, 2019, was $216 million. Four percent of the endowment market value, averaged over the 12 consecutive quarters ended December 31, 2018, was authorized by the Foundation Board of Directors for spending in fiscal year 2019-2020.
