Arts & Sciences Magazine

Thanks to our generous alumni, parents, and friends, Arts & Sciences has much to celebrate. With a grand total of more than $170 million—an amount that far exceeds our goal—every program, every faculty member, and every student has felt the impact of the Campaign for Boston University. We’d like to highlight some of our shared successes.

YOU HAVE ADVANCED…

Graduate education, through support of student research such as fieldwork for economics students enabled by a gift from Manuel A. Abdala (GRS’90,’92)

“Economists, especially we development economists, generally don’t know enough about the institutions we’re evaluating. We may have data, but we’re sitting in labs, in the United States, yet we’re trying to influence the policy of other countries. Fieldwork is crucial for providing that missing context.”—Jia De Gedeon Lim (GRS’21,’21)

The humanities, through support of postdoctoral students such as an endowed fellowship for those studying American material culture

Graduate students in BU’s interdisciplinary American & New England Studies Program (AMNESP) research material culture—a discipline that extracts the meaning conveyed in objects used or made by humans. The objects they’re investigating range from carved powder horns to needlework by women in the abolitionist movement. Support for postdoctoral fellows furthers AMNESP’s mission to educate the leading curators, scholars, and researchers in the field, extending BU’s influence on the evolution of material culture scholarship.

Experiential learning, through support of initiatives such as BU Spark!, including leadership gifts from Trustee Alicia Mullen (CAS’83) and Overseer Rebecca Norlander (CAS’91)

Donor support helps students at Spark! pursue independent technology projects using their computer science backgrounds in combination with related, complementary disciplines. They develop technical skills and business acumen working on projects such as a crowdsourcing platform for peer feedback on résumés and an aircraft collision avoidance system. The Spark! X-Lab pairs students with external partners to develop technical solutions for everything from increasing civic engagement in Latinx communities to making Boston’s sidewalk repairs equitable across neighborhoods.

Access to a BU education, through scholarships such as an endowed scholarship established by Phillip H. Messing (CAS’59)

“Your scholarship has enabled me to pursue both my academic and extracurricular interests at an institution that, without financial aid, I most likely would not be able to attend. I have grown a lot in my first year, and I am looking forward to the next three.”—Mason Snider (CAS’22), a recipient of the Phillip H. Messing Scholarship who is studying international relations and environmental policy

Facilities across the college, through support for renovations such as a gift from Maxwell Robidoux (CAS’17, LAW’20) and family to renovate the CAS Sociology Lounge

The renovated lounge, on the second floor of 96 Cummington Mall, honors Max’s graduation and the enduring support he received from BU’s Departments of Sociology and Psychology while a student at CAS. With new, modern lighting, three huddle rooms, a call room, and both individual and collaborative work spaces, the airy lounge invites stimulating brainstorming as well as quiet contemplation.

Discussions related to global problems, such as those advanced through the Gerald (CAS’66) and Deanne Gitner Family CAS Lecture Series

The Gitner lecture series highlights current CAS faculty members whose teaching and research address broad topics of major importance to us all. Topics have included “Advancing the Human Condition: An Agenda for Research and Education,” “Contesting Muhammad: Contemporary Controversies in Historical Perspective,” and “Humanities Approaches to the Opioid Crisis.”

… AND SO MUCH MORE.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR EXTRAORDINARY SUPPORT OF ARTS & SCIENCES!

From experiential learning to scholarships, from graduate fieldwork to facilities renovations, your giving has made so much possible at the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. The examples here represent just a few of the milestones we have reached during the remarkably successful Campaign for Boston University.

Please know that, whether you gave to a particular program or department, or directed your gift to meet our most pressing needs, you have made a crucial investment in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. You have helped provide our undergraduates with an exceptional grounding in the liberal arts—a necessary foundation for addressing the challenges of an ever-more complex world. And you have helped our graduate students and faculty pursue world-class research, seeking solutions to global problems in areas from the data sciences to the humanities to the environment.

Every gift in this campaign has been important, and we are tremendously grateful to alumni, parents, and friends for supporting the liberal arts. We look forward to continuing to partner with you now that we’ve declared campaign victory—and as we build on our momentum in the future.

We could do none of this without your help.

With deepest thanks,

Stan Sclaroff Dean, Arts & Sciences
Bonnie T. Feld, CAS’73, (Par COM’02) CAS DAB & Campaign Chair