Stories of Giving
Donors make a difference. They support the mission of Reed to provide a balanced, comprehensive education in liberal arts and sciences, fulfilling the highest standards of intellectual excellence.
When asked why they give to Reed, donors often cite the following:- A belief in Reed College and its mission to provide the best liberal arts education in the country.
- An understanding that without their financial support, Reed could not provide the same rigorous academics, small classes, and overall excellence that it does today.
- A wish to support the programs, people, and campus life that give Reed its unique character.
Explore the stories below to learn more about what motivates Reed’s supporters to give and what their gifts support.
Donors support students every step of the way in 2023
Nearly 4,000 alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends made gifts to the college, helping to fund student-professor mentorship, scholarly resources in the laboratory and the library, advisers in the Center for Life Beyond Reed, and more.
Presidential Fellowship enables student to challenge narrative of a house divided
Anthropology major Emilie Kelly ’25 logged 15,000 miles and 106 games of cornhole on her seven-week journey across 32 states.
Mellon Foundation Grant Will Support Environmental Humanities at Reed
The $500,000 initiative will fund new scholarship as well as the creation of courses centered on environmental justice and the literary imagination.
Learn more about environmental humanities.
Eliot Society members’ plans reveal the generosity and imagination of Reedies
For generations, bequest donors have entrusted Reed with their hopes and dreams for the college's future. In this report, Reed tracks the guiding language of estate documents to their outcomes—showing how the intentions of donors reach across time and space.
Read the legacy impact report.
Donors help Reed students succeed in the new normal
Nearly 5,000 alumni, parents, staff, and friends mobilized to support Reed this past year, giving over $4.8 million to the Annual Fund. These donors ensured the college could stay true to its mission, even as it navigated stubbornly uncertain times.
Trustee and Parent Gifts Help Launch Sustainability Coordinator
With the help of trustees and a Reed parent, Rachel Willis will help develop and support sustainability initiatives on campus, including tracking and analyzing energy, water, and carbon usage.
Beckman Foundation brings cutting-edge microscope to Reed
A powerful new microscope will enable Reed biologists to create moving images of living cells with astonishing accuracy—thanks to a $1.2 million award from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation.
Gifts in Many Fonts and Pen Widths
Calligraphy shows up all over the Reed community, from weathergrams hanging in cherry trees to words of gratitude on gift receipts. Calligraphy has made a resurgence over the last ten years through the dedication of staff and volunteers and the philanthropic gifts that empower their work.
Endowment Donors Provide the Foundation for a Reed Education
Gifts from alumni, parents, and friends, and the growth of those gifts through careful investment over time, have increased Reed's endowment from $4.4 million in 1971 to well over $700 million in 2022. The income generated by the endowment supports almost 30% of Reed’s annual operating budget, a percentage that has been slowly rising over the decades. But how does it all work, and what about the role of Annual Fund donors?
Merck Foundation Honors Reed Trustee
The Merck Foundation has made a $1.5 million gift to Reed College to honor leading immunologist and Reed trustee Roger Perlmutter ’73, who retired last year as executive vice president of Merck Research Laboratories. The gift will create the Roger M. Perlmutter Professorship in Biological Sciences, which will be awarded to neuroscientist Prof. Suzy Renn [biology].
Donors Enable Inspired Teaching
Six professors have recently been appointed to prestigious endowed chairs—a mark of esteem from their colleagues, a recognition of their knack for inspiring students, and sign of deep commitment on the part of Reed's financial supporters.
Gifts Propel Research at Reed
From black holes to hungry microbes, research at Reed College is heating up. With the help of generous alumni, parents, and foundations, Reed College is building an extensive system to provide students with outstanding opportunities to pursue research. These explorations include departmental fellowships, opportunity grants, research grants, internships, and creative fellowships.
Donors Dig Deeper than Ever Before
Reedies give record-breaking $5.5M to the Annual Fund to help students through COVID-19.
Happy Birthday ES! Donors propel 10 years of environmental studies success
For the last decade Reed donors have been helping the college to produce well-trained social scientists and humanists versed in the physical and life sciences, and well-trained scientists with a strong grasp on social scientific and humanistic modes of inquiry.
Borders Chair and Student Research Fund Support Physics Department
Deborah Borders memorialized her husband, Jim Borders ’63, by creating a professorship and endowing a student research fund in the physics department. The James A. Borders Chair has been awarded to Joel Franklin ’97.
Stepping Up For Social Justice
Alex Martinez ’73 and his wife Kathy endow Reed’s Social Justice Research and Education Fund, supporting students working on civic engagement and equity beyond the classroom.
Donors fuel robust experiences for remarkable students
The "What Is a Reedie, Anyway?" cover story in Reed magazine features the transformative experiences and support systems that have shaped graduating seniors' trajectory, from student research funds to the financial aid that makes it all possible.
Gift from physics major enables Reedies to discover how the Milky Way got its distinctive shape.
The Delord-Mockett Fund was created by physicist Paul Mockett ’59 in honor of legendary Reed physics professor Jean Delord [1950-88], a member of the French Resistance during WWII who later became an expert in solid state, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics and mentored generations of Reed students. Both men's legacies continue on in the exciting projects pursued by student recipients of the Delord-Mocket Fund.
Reed Emergency Fund donors help students weather the COVID storm
The Emergency Fund supports students experiencing a wide range of unanticipated needs, including medical expenses, food and supplies, emergency travel, and housing security.
Esther Wender research fund helps student understand the underpinnings of addiction
A growing body of evidence shows that undergrads who do research get better at overcoming obstacles, thinking independently, and understanding how knowledge is constructed. In the last decade, Reed has set out to provide students with more opportunities to pursue research in their sophomore and junior years; the skills they gain from these projects often prove invaluable for their thesis and their careers.
Englert and Rumpakis-Dussin Fund Recipients Explore the World of Alexander the Great
Prof. Thomas Landvatter led six students on an archaeological dig at the Vigla Archaeological Project in Cyprus, supported by the Walter Englert Classics Student Opportunity Fund and the Rumpakis-Dussin Fund.
Donors Create Summer Research Experiences
“Undergraduate research is one of the distinguishing features of Reed,” says Alice Harra, director of the Center for Life Beyond Reed. “Our students know how to take in vast amounts of information, synthesize, analyze, and troubleshoot.” Reed donors help provide these important experiences.
Presidential Fellows Set Off For Adventure
Ten students will pursue projects around the globe thanks to the President's Summer Fellowship, funded by trustee Dan Greenberg ’62 and Susan Steinhauser. The fellows will each receive $5,000 to undertake 8- to 10-week summer projects that combine intellectual pursuit, imagination, adventure, personal transformation, and service to the greater good.
Deconstructing Wall Street
The Financial Services Fellowship gives Reed students insight into the world of power and money. With funding and know-how from trustee Jane Buchan and the help New York alumni and parents, Reed offers students a look behind the mystique of the world of finance and a glimpse of what it’s like to run with the bulls, bears, and griffins of Wall Street.
Geselbracht Honor Goes to Prof. Glasfeld
Prof. Arthur Glasfeld has been named the inaugural holder of the Margret Geselbracht Chair of Chemistry. Created with a $3 million gift by an anonymous donor, the chair memorializes the career of Prof. Maggie Geselbracht, who passed away in 2014 after a hard-fought struggle against lymphoma.
Linehan’s Legacy Lives On
Avangrid Foundation honors legacy of wind-power expert Andy Linehan ’78 by giving to Reed.
Answering the Call
Phonathon connects a new generation of students and alumni.
Reed Donors Hit $4.9 Million Annual Fund Record
Supporters rally for Reed, breaking previous record. In 2017-18, through many astonishing acts of generosity that would make the Doyle Owl beam with pride, a total of 5,354 alumni, parents, students, and friends gave a whopping $4.9 million to support the Annual Fund, surpassing last year’s record. Watch the video!
Why I Give
Dylan Rivera '95 shares his personal reasons for giving that resonate with many Reed donors: "I give back to Reed because Reed changed my life. "Reed encouraged me to pursue academic excellence and follow my passions...."
Reed Welcomes New Executive Director of Development
Sarah Panetta will head development team. Reed welcomes new executive director of development, Sarah Panetta, who comes to the college from Portland’s Children’s Healing Arts Project where she served as executive director. Sarah has also run a nonprofit consulting practice to support local and national nonprofits and served as vice president of development at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).
A Word of Thanks
In a touching letter to a donor, a member of the class of 2018 looks back on his time at Reed with appreciation for all he has experienced, and for the generosity of those who helped him get to, and through, Reed.
Lewis to Chair Fundraising Effort
New Leadership for Alumni Fundraising for Reed. Outgoing chair Michael Stapleton '10 introduces Christine Lewis '07 as just the right person to guide alumni fundraising volunteers into the future.