Bequests

Creating Culture: A Commitment to Future Museum Studies Students
As the end of high school approached, Alex Nyerges, BA ’79, MA ’82, considered his options. “I grew up very poor in Rochester, New York,” he says. “My father worked in a factory, and there was no money for college.” Read More

Private, Humble Lives: Alumnae Quietly Create Groundbreaking Gift
Devoted, humble, and private — this is how Doug and Connie Holy describe their friend, neighbor, and son’s godparent, the late Mary Hopkinson Shepard, CCAS BA ’64, and her twin sister, the late Josephine Ross Shepard, CCAS BA ’65. Read More

Supporting Those Who Serve
Through a planned gift, Mary H. Grant, CCAS MPhil, PhD, established the "Grant-Ahart Navy ROTC Prize," an endowed prize awarded annually to an undergraduate Navy ROTC student, with a preference for those interested in international affairs. Read More

GW Alumnus Makes Giving Back a Priority
For 40 years, Keith Greene has given his time to the George Washington University, so it only makes sense that he's also leaving a financial legacy to his alma mater. Read More

Furthering a Legacy With a Future Gift
From the classroom to the emergency room to the ballroom, Diane Luckmann, School of Medicine and Health Sciences MD '59, has always loved to learn — and been inspired to lead. Read More

A Volunteer’s Legacy
Char Beales, BA’73, CCAS, and her husband, Howard, a professor in the GW School of Business, share why their involvement at GW has been so meaningful to them and how that led them to establish the Char Beales Endowed Professorship of Accountability in Journalism in GW’s School of Media and Public Affairs. Watch Video

Alumni Say Thanks Through a Planned Gift to GW
For alumni Jim and Wendy Core, that place is the Elliott School of International Affairs. The school helped launch their careers, introduced them to lifelong friends, and connected them to their future spouses—each other. Read More

Our Legacy: A Perfect Fit
GW Psychology Professor Carol Sigelman shares why she and her late husband, former GW Professor Lee Sigelman, established bequests to support the areas of GW that mean the most to them. Watch Video

A Legacy in the Arts at GW
Marc Albert, board co-chair for the GW Museum, discusses what led to his decision to support the arts at GW through his estate plan. Watch Video

Giving to Make the World a Better Place
As an environmental lawyer, pioneering public health professional, and former head of Washington, D.C.’s disease prevention and treatment agency, Marie Sansone, BA ’78, has built an impressive career helping those in need. Read More

Professor Roger Kennedy: Telling the American Story
Former GW professor of American Studies Roger G. Kennedy held many important responsibilities during his long and successful career: he served six U.S. presidents, brought Dorothy's ruby slippers to the Smithsonian Institution, and opened doors to a GW education. Read More

Spheres of Influence: Sylven Beck and the Impact of a Life
Sylven Beck has made a career of influencing others. But not in the way one might expect in the nation's capital: For the last 30 years, Beck has been a professor of elementary education at the George Washington University. Read More

A Donor's Perspective: The Gift of Giving to GW
GW supporters Les and Kathy Megyeri share why they are inspired to give. Read More

Beneficiary Designations

Healing the World, Helping Our Veterans, and Lending a Hand to Future GW Students
For Dr. John McGurl, CCAS BS’84, the decision to come to the George Washington University hinged on his desire to see the world and serve those in need. Read More

Alumnus Tom Curtis: Giving Back, Looking Forward
GW looks much different from when Tom Curtis attended in the 1960s, but he believes the heart of the university remains unchanged: students and faculty who want to make a difference in the world. Read More

CGAs

GW — and Generosity — Run in the Family
Whatever Janet’s husband, Gene, held close to his heart became a priority of hers, too. And that included GW. Read More

Educating the Educators: Planned Gift Helps Future School Leaders
"We didn't want to build a McMansion, we didn't want a beach house, we were happy with where we were," Vest said. "And so finally over a period of time, we decided education is it." Soon after, they created the Vest Family Fellowship Fund, an endowed scholarship in honor of Vest's mother and father. Read More

Economics Informs Artist's Creative Gift to GW
You don't need a PhD in economics to understand the benefits of making a planned gift. Just ask Bill Snow, an accomplished painter who also has three degrees, including a doctorate in economics, from GW. Read More

‘Do as Much Good as You Can’
Mildred Reynolds, Ed.D. '78, credits her family for the spirit of philanthropy that has inspired her to give back to the people and institutions that have influenced her life, especially the George Washington University. Read More

CRTs

'GW Man' Takes Pride in Supporting Future Students
"My father was a newspaper deliveryman. He was the guy the kids delivering papers worked for," Baraff said. "My father was the hardest working man I knew. My parents did everything they could for me — but I didn't look to them for help with college." Read More

Gift Provides 'Meaningful Education'
To hear William "Bill" Oakley, MS GWSB '71, tell it, his time at GW helped put rugs under his feet and a roof over his head — so he's giving it all back and then some. Read More

Donor Advised Funds (DAF)

Across the Miles: Keeping the GW Connection Alive 
Sarah Catz, CCAS BA ’77 may live in California, but she’s closely connected to GW — and she is building her legacy at the university through the GW Donor Advised Fund. Read More

Real Estate

30 Years and Counting 
David Berg, BS '68 has supported the George Washington University for over 30 years. His gift of real estate opens doors at GW to students like Amzaray Ahmed, BS '14: "It's nice to know there's someone out there who cares. It's a real person out there who wants to help," says Amzaray Ahmed, BS '14. Read More

Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs)

Paying It Forward: GW Alumnus Endows Opportunity for Future Engineers
Gennaro "Gene" Colabatistto, M.S. ‘96, built a life on hard work, determination, a commitment to service, and a bit of luck. But Gene and his wife Constance don’t want young people with talent to rely on luck alone. Read More

GW Alumni Donors Answer the Call
In 1988, Dr. Julianne Thomas, CCAS BA '67, received a call from GW's annual fund asking for a pledge. The former zoology major turned pediatrician said she would give, but only to an endowed scholarship for students in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. Read More