RECORD-BREAKING GIVING
$110,627,461
Support From Every State
Utah State received donations from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and 27 counties within the state of Utah. The highest total amount came from Davis County with $44,410,165 in gifts from 585 donors. Salt Lake County with $25,242,304 from 869 donors and Cache County with $9,827,828 from 2,614 distinct donor rounded out the top three. Outside of Utah, the top three states in total dollars donated were Colorado, with $6,703,286 donated; California, with $4,091,238 donated; and Arizona, with $4,048,024 donated.
Giving by Impact Area
Creating Your Aggie Impact — Giving Stories from the Aggie Family
Students
Accelerating Access and Opportunity
Earning a degree from Utah State shapes a student’s future by opening a world of promise and potential. Providing the tools and educational experiences to students seeking a brighter future is central to our mission.
Honoring Beloved Accounting Professor
Life comes with pivotal moments that can change the trajectory of one’s path. For USU alumus Robert Phillips, that pivotal moment came when he met Dr. Larzette Hale.
“She was always looking for opportunities to stretch, to break barriers – she did that in her life and expected the same from her students,” Robert said.
Robert took a moment to reflect on his life and the people who made a difference to him. He wondered, with everything going on in the world, what could he do? So, on the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote, Robert wrote a check to the Larzette Hale Scholarship in Accounting, in honor of the professor who made such an impact on his life.
Faculty
Elevating the Educational Experience
High-caliber, resourceful faculty are the foundation of a top-tier education. It all begins with those who have the knowledge and expertise to help nurture a student's potential.
Celebrating Extraordinary Faculty
Thanks to the generous support of donors, two new endowed professorships have been created in the Utah State University College of Engineering.
Ron Sims, a professor of biological engineering, has been named the Huntsman Endowed Professor of Biosystems and Environmental Engineering. David Tarboton, the director of the Utah Water Research Laboratory and a professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been named the Sant Endowed Professor of Water Resources Engineering.
The professorships — the newest in a series of three endowments created in recent years — reflect USU’s land-grant mission and fortify the university’s role as a research leader.
“I cannot overstate the importance and value these professorships bring to our college and the university,” said Jagath Kaluarachchi, dean of the College of Engineering. “Students will directly benefit through greater access to improved research and learning experiences, and we will see greater visibility of our academic programs.”
Research & Innovation
Pioneering Solutions to the World's Challenges
As a Carnegie-recognized R1 institution, Utah State pushes boundaries in pursuit of discoveries that change lives, communities and the world at large.
Exposing Students to Research
Utah State University Civil and Environmental Engineering alumna Zhida Song-James (’91) has created L. Douglas James Memorial Endowed Scholarship in honor of her late husband, a former Utah Water Research Lab director. The scholarship will support undergraduate students participating in hydrology research.
An experience the couple had with one of their grandchildren helped shape their view on research. When their grandson Matthew was in sixth grade, he did some experiments with building materials in school which helped fuel his curiosity. Later on, when he went to college, Zhida said he almost immediately began participating in undergraduate research. Now, he is earning a Ph.D.
“Watching this process we realized how early exposure to research, how important that is to a kid to let them know there’s a door,” Zhida said.
Zhida’s hope for this new scholarship is it will be a door to research for undergraduate students who may not have the same research opportunities as graduate students.
Excellence
Building a University of Distinction
Along with our land-grant mission of community engagement, building a university of distinction includes cutting-edge teaching technology and infrastructure.
Supporting Spaces for Students
Physical spaces on a university campus – buildings, classrooms, offices, labs and libraries – provide a place where creative ideas and fruitful academic experiences happen.
With fond memories of USU, Jim and Jeri Spinner agreed that the university provided them an excellent foundation in all aspects of life. So, in honor of their time spent at USU, the couple decided it was time to give back to the institution that gave so much to them.
Generously supporting the respective colleges from where each one of them earned their degree, they provided funds for the Jim and Jeri Spinner Institute of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Lab in the S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources, a new lab to support graduate students in the studies of recreation resource management, environment and society, and ecology; as well funds for the Spinner Weeks Terrace an updated outdoor terrace on the fourth floor of the Huntsman Hall.
“It’s really about helping students get what they need,” said Jim. “We give because the next generation is the future. The more educated and well-traveled the next generation is, including exposure to different people and cultures, the better prepared they will be to meet the challenges.”
Giving By Year
Alumni Giving
Alumni Donors
4,732
Total Giving
$31,070,332
Forging a New Path
For alumnus Paul Maroof, a first-generation college graduate from Iran, realizing his version of the American dream didn’t take hold until he attended USU.
Djamilliah Paepke-Chile, 2022-23 Recipient of the Paul & Nahid Maroof Aggie Family Scholarship
Now the owner of a successful jewelry business, Paul credits his USU education with opening his eyes, giving him a different way of looking at things and realizing his potential.
“My degree in electrical engineering has played a huge role in my life,” Paul said. “My understanding of how things work, logic and math has become a foundation here in my jewelry business. My education is constantly kicking in and I feel I wouldn’t have been as successful without it.”
Today, Paul is supporting students who are forging a new path, as he and his wife Nahid once did, by creating the Paul and Nahid Maroof Aggie Family Scholarship. His hope is that anyone with the goal of attending college can turn it into reality.
“I hope this scholarship encourages and creates opportunities for first-generation students to realize their dreams,” Paul said. “Nearly 48 years later, I still cherish my time at USU. I hope any student who wants to go to college can get out of it as much as I did and learn amazing life lessons, while gaining an education that will take them to the next level.”
USU Faculty and Staff Giving
Faculty and Staff Donors
264
Total Giving
$169,717
Expendable Scholarships
New Scholarships
37
Student Recipients
9,058
Total
Awarded
$67,909,546
Easing the Financial Burden
Recent USU graduate Brooks Ogborn was thankful for the financial help he received in college and decided he wanted to help other future teachers. In fall 2021, during his first few months of teaching, he worked with USU’s College of Science to create the Brooks Ogborn Student Teacher Rent Alleviation Program Expendable Scholarship.
Student teaching majors are required to serve as student teachers during their last few months of school and it can be stressful, Brooks said. Students in the major cannot have a job when they are student teaching because, along with a full load of classes, they are required to spend a lot of time teaching in a classroom.
“I make a good salary, I don’t have a mortgage and live in a cheap apartment,” Brooks said. “Could I have saved my money? Yes, but I wanted to help and decided this was a great way to invest in the next generation.”
“I hope this scholarship encourages and creates opportunities for first-generation students to realize their dreams,” Paul said. “Nearly 48 years later, I still cherish my time at USU. I hope any student who wants to go to college can get out of it as much as I did and learn amazing life lessons, while gaining an education that will take them to the next level.”
Those interested in learning more about creating an expendable scholarship at USU, may visit
https://www.usu.edu/advancement/give/scholarships.
Endowed Scholarships
New Scholarships
92
Student Recipients
1,724
Total
Awarded
$3,638,372
Inspiring Aggie Creates Enduring Legacy
It was in his senior year while playing football for Logan High School during the 1977 season that Jim Minkler ’82, ’83 sustained a life altering injury resulting in a broken neck. He was left paralyzed below his neck and unable to move his limbs and torso. But Jim accomplished a great deal in his short lifetime – not just academically and professionally, but as a person whose kindness and optimism made a positive difference for so many.
Drawing deep from his own source of inner strength, his faith, and his loving family, network of friends, and community that surrounded him, Jim never let the almost unsurmountable physical challenges he faced at a very young age overwhelm him. Instead, asking for nothing in return, Jim focused his attention on the betterment of others and made an enduring impact on his alma mater by leaving a generous gift to USU students in his will. As Jim designated, the James R. Minkler Endowed Scholarship is a needs-based award for juniors and seniors (two students each year) who are studying finance at USU’s Jon M. Huntsman School of Business.