Celebrating the Impact of Make Possible

Dear Members of the Carnegie Mellon Community,

With deep gratitude and immense pride, I write today to mark a truly historic milestone for our university.

When we launched Make Possible: The Campaign for Carnegie Mellon University seven years ago, we asked a simple but powerful question: What can we make possible with the next great investments in Carnegie Mellon? Together, we have answered that call — and exceeded even our boldest aspirations.

Earlier this month, we celebrated Homecoming and CMU's 125th anniversary and, with it, the close of Make Possible, the largest and most successful fundraising effort in our university's history. Over 72,000 alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students and friends joined together to raise more than $2.5 billion, an investment that is transforming lives, expanding opportunity and redefining what's possible at CMU.

The results of this campaign are already transforming every facet of our university:

Expanding access and opportunity for students from every background. Thousands of supporters contributed $465 million to launch hundreds of new endowed scholarships and fellowships — supporting undergraduate, masters and Ph.D. students. The campaign also enabled us to establish two signature programs — the Tartan Scholars Program and the CMU Rales Fellows Program — that embody our belief that financial circumstances should never limit a gifted student's access to CMU.
Investing in our people and their ideas. During the campaign, supporters contributed an incredible $214 million to help CMU attract and retain exceptional scholars through the creation of 72 new endowed professorships, deanships and headships. Four new deanships — the Bess Family Dean of the Marianna Brown Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Dr. William D. and Nancy W. Strecker Dean of the College of Engineering, the Glen de Vries Dean of Mellon College of Science and the Helen and Henry Posner, Jr. Dean's Chair for the University Libraries — unlock crucial resources for strategic priorities.
Enhancing the student experience with significant investments in the resources, services and spaces that nurture well-being, belonging and success. Anchoring this effort is the transformational Highmark Center for Health, Wellness and Athletics, a stunning new facility that brings together physical and mental health services, fitness and recreation, and varsity athletics. We are also empowering students through expanded experiential learning opportunities, academic success initiatives, and new civic and leadership programming. These investments support our commitment to excellence and our belief that CMU's greatest success lies in not just what our students learn but in who they become.
Pioneering new academic and research programs that bring the full breadth of CMU's expertise to respond to societal imperatives. Programs catalyzed by significant philanthropic support during the campaign include the Ray and Stephanie Lane Computational Biology Department, the Hoskinson Center for Formal Mathematics, the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, the Joseph Ballay Center for Design Fusion, the Block Center for Technology and Society, Manufacturing Futures Institute, the Neuroscience Institute and the Center for Shared Prosperity. These initiatives and centers unite disciplines and further strengthen CMU's leadership at the nexus of technology and humanity.
Transforming our university for a new era of teaching and learning. As a result of the campaign, we are investing over $1 billion in state-of-the-art facilities that foster collaboration, spark innovation and reflect the dynamic spirit of Carnegie Mellon. New facilities supporting our education and research mission include the David A. Tepper Quadrangle, TCS Hall, Scaife Hall, ANSYS Hall and the Robotics Innovation Center at Hazelwood Green. And the Richard King Mellon Hall of Sciences, still under construction, is also rising as a powerful symbol of CMU's future at the forefront of science, arts and technology.

I am deeply grateful to the many individuals and teams whose vision and dedication made this historic campaign possible. My sincere thanks go to our Board of Trustees, led by Chair David Coulter, and to our academic and administrative leaders, faculty, staff, and volunteers across the university. I especially want to recognize University Advancement colleagues across the university whose creativity and spirit of collaboration were instrumental to Make Possible’s success.

And to everyone who gave—thank you. Whether you supported a scholarship, a program, a facility or the annual fund, your generosity carries forward the extraordinary legacy of Andrew Carnegie’s founding gift. You have helped fuel Carnegie Mellon’s next bold chapter and strengthened our role in fearlessly reinventing the intersections of technology, creativity and humanity.

Make Possible is already transforming lives and unlocking new doors of opportunity for our students, faculty, staff and partners around the world. With this remarkable foundation in place, the possibilities we can achieve together are truly boundless.

With gratitude,

Farnam Jahanian
President
Henry L. Hillman President's Chair