About the Nutritional Sciences Endowment Funds

What are the goals of the Endowment Funds?

In May 2000, the Division of Nutritional Sciences launched its endowment initiative to provide a continuous source of funding to enhance the professional development of our graduate students. Our goal is to establish a minimum of 5 endowed graduate fellowships.

Why are Endowment Funds needed?

Due to our unique interdisciplinary organization, the budgetary resources that are available to support the programs of the Division are modest. We receive financial support from the Colleges of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, Applied Health Sciences, Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. These funds support the Margin of Excellence Program, which provides research funding and travel support that allows our graduate students to attend national and international scientific conferences to present their research. We also support teaching and research assistantships. Our vision is that the Endowment Funds will augment the support that we receive from our member colleges and will allow us to create new and exciting professional development opportunities for our students. For example, in addition to supporting travel to conferences, we would like to provide funding for students to travel to research laboratories at other institutions to learn new techniques to augment their research. We also would like to establish an industry internship program for our students.

What have we achieved to date?

Through the generous support of corporations and friends, alumni, faculty and students, we have raised approximately $1.5M. The major component of the endowment was provided by Kraft Foods North America to establish the Kraft Foods Human Nutrition Endowment Fund. Interest generated from the remaining funds provide unrestricted support for the programs of the Division.

As part of the Endowment Initiative, three student awards were created through the generous contributions of three Nutritional Sciences emeriti faculty. Each award is given yearly. In addition, a memorial award fund honoring Frank W. Kari, a graduate of the Division of Nutritional Sciences, was created, as well as a lecture fund honoring Dr. Willard Visek, professor emeritus, and his wife, Priscilla.

In all, the Division has seven funds for which donations are accepted:

Nutritional Sciences Endowment Fund - will be used to sustain and enhance the excellence of the Division of Nutritional Sciences by providing graduate students with enhanced research and professional development experiences.

Annual Fund - although not an endowment (the funds, rather than the interest generated, are used directly), this fund provides unrestricted support for Nutritional Sciences.

David H. Baker Nutrition Scholar Award Fund - recognizes students who display excellence in research as documented through peer-reviewed publications, awards and research grants. During the selection of the award recipient, an emphasis will be placed on the originality and creativity of the student's research.

Toshiro Nishida Research Award Fund - provides support for travel to national and international scientific conferences. Criteria used to select the awardee include the originality and quality of the student's abstract and poster or oral presentation.

James L. Robinson Nutrition Impact Award Fund - recognizes students who display excellence in professional service to the University, the Division, the Nutritional Sciences Graduate Student Association or to a professional society.

Frank W. Kari Endowed Memorial Award Fund in Nutritional Sciences - will provide awards to graduate students who are enrolled in the Division of Nutritional Sciences in the College of ACES at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The awards will be used by recipients to attend scientific conferences, including the annual Experimental Biology Meeting.

Dr. Willard J. and Priscilla F. Visek Lecture Fund - will be used to support collaborative scholarly activities in the science of nutrition at UIUC by providing funding for a lectureship, including, but not limited to, honorarium, travel, accomodations, publicity and receptions associated with the lecture. The lecture topic should emphasize the molecular basis of normal and abnormal nutrition-related processes in human beings and should take place on an annual basis.

How can I contribute?

We welcome your contribution to any of the Nutritional Sciences Funds. Information on contributing can be found here.