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This year, Moran was named the second recipient of the Rand-Stearns Endowed Professorship, named after the late Josephine Stearns '58 and the late Elizabeth Rand, director and teacher at the center from 1948 to 1973. Moran is using the stipend to initiate three new research projects to further refine the center's inquiry-oriented education. The payoff? "Children and teachers become learning partners, and as a result, are more passionate about their work together."

—Meg Torbert

A great university must push the boundaries of knowledge; introduce students to new ideas, challenges and opportunities; find the tools, explore the ideas, and develop the leaders that will make the future better than the present.

On Oct. 1 and 2, 1999, the University of New Hampshire will launch a fund-raising campaign dedicated to achieving these objectives. The goal of "The Next Horizon: the Campaign for the University of New Hampshire" is $100 million. That's about five times more than UNH has raised in any previous campaign, but UNH Foundation President Young P. Dawkins III is confident that the goal can be met.

"The University is at an exciting point in its development," Dawkins observes. "In recent years, UNH has been increasingly recognized as an exceptional institution. It's become a public university of choice for talented students; outside support for research has increased dramatically, to $60 million this past year; and many of our academic programs are achieving world-class distinction. Last year, Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine called UNH a 'public university to cheer about.' It really is, and more and more people are beginning to see it that way."

The name chosen for the campaign, The Next Horizon: the Campaign for the University of New Hampshire, reflects the philosophy behind it. "We are launching this campaign in the belief that the University is on the threshold of great opportunity and achievement," UNH President Joan Leitzel says. "We are positioned to be one of the very best public universities in the country."

• to make a UNH education available to talented students, regardless of family income;
  
• to recruit and retain outstanding faculty members;
  
• to strengthen selected academic programs of distinction;
  
• to provide modern technology and other essential learning tools to all members of the campus community;
  
• to maintain a campus environment that fosters discovery, creativity and community.
  

The overall goal of $100 million includes $28 million for student support, including scholarships and fellowships; $30 million for faculty support, including endowed chairs, term professorships, and faculty development programs; $30 million for "programs of distinction"—programs that are or have the potential to be at the top of their fields; and $12 million for academic resources, including instructional technology, library collections and services, and equipment.

"Our goals are ambitious: the pursuit of excellence is always a challenge," says Leitzel. "But the University's history is one of great endeavors boldly undertaken. UNH would never have become what it is without the vision, confidence and hard work of academic and volunteer leaders in the past. Now it is up to us—not only the administration and the faculty, but the thousands of students, alumni and friends who care about UNH—to face today's challenges and secure the resources the University needs to achieve its full potential."

The campaign is off to a good start even before it officially begins. According to Dawkins, the UNH Foundation has been gearing up for the official beginning of the campaign and has already lined up $35 million in gifts and pledges. Still, he emphasizes, "We are very early in the process. It's a long way to go to $100 million."

Dawkins sees this campaign not just as a mechanism for raising money, but also as a way to make the general public more aware of the accomplishments of UNH and its importance to New Hampshire. "We are seeking support from everyone with an interest in public higher education," he says. "We want to link as many people as possible to the future success of the University. This is an opportunity to focus on how strong the University is, and how proud people are to be associated with it."

—Maggie Paine

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