WELLESLEY, Mass.--Wellesley College
announced today that Lulu and Anthony Wang of New York
are donating $25 million for the design and construction
of a new campus center. The gift is the largest
contribution in the College's history and is the largest
gift by an individual to a women's college.
In announcing the record-breaking gift, the Wellesley
College Board of Trustees also launched a comprehensive
campaign for $ 400 million, the most ambitious goal for
any liberal arts college in the U.S. and more than double
the size of its record-breaking $168 million campaign in
1992. In addition to the construction of a campus center,
the priorities of the new campaign are increased
scholarship aid for U.S. and international students,
strengthened and expanded academic programs, expanded
internship and experiential learning programs,
restoration of the campus landscape, and increased
unrestricted gifts for operating support.
"As women become an increasingly powerful
philanthropic force, this extraordinary gift sets a new
threshold for giving by women for women. We hope the
Wellesley example will inspire many more women to give
generously to institutions, organizations, and causes
dedicated to improving the quality of life for women
everywhere," said Wellesley president Diana Chapman
Walsh. "Lulu and Tony Wang's magnificent gift enables us
to move forward with plans for a building that will
enhance the intellectual life of a community whose
purpose is to educate women who will make a difference in
the world. The impact of their tremendous generosity will
be felt by the Wellesley College community for many years
to come."
"We are honored to make this gift and to make a
difference for Wellesley, which has long been the leader
in educating women who will make a difference in the
world," said Lulu Wang, a member of the Wellesley Class
of 1966. "We believe it will be important and very
wonderful for all members of the College's diverse
community to have a common space in which we can all come
together. We are delighted to help create a building that
will facilitate the creation of the strong bonds among
students, faculty, colleagues, and alumnae that are one
of the hallmarks of Wellesley College."
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Lulu Wang (pronounced 'Wong') is founder and
CEO of Tupelo Capital Management in New York.
Before founding Tupelo Capital Management in
1997, she was executive vice president at
Jennison Associates Capital Corporation. She
earned a Masters degree from the Columbia
University Graduate School of Business. She has
been a member of Wellesley's Board of Trustees
since 1988, where she now chairs the investment
committee, and is a founding member and past
president of the College's Business Leadership
Council. She was chair of the recently completed
$10 million endowment drive for the Wellesley
Centers for Women, a women's research center at
the College on whose board Wang has served since
1992.
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Lulu and Anthony Wang.
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Wang holds a number of major volunteer leadership
positions in other organizations. She is on the board and
chairs the finance committee of the New York Community
Trust, serves on the investment committee of the
Rockefeller Family Fund, and is a director of WNYC, New
York's public radio station, as well as the New York
Women's Forum. She also is a member of the Advisory
Council of the American Museum of Natural History and the
Chairman's Council of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She
has been honored for her many achievements by Girls Inc.,
the New York Women's Agenda, the New York City Commission
on the Status of Women, and the American Woman's Economic
Development Corporation.
Anthony Wang retired in 1992 as the president and
chief operating officer of Computer Associates
International, a software company. He graduated from Yale
University in 1965 and from Cornell University Law School
in 1968.
After extensive study, the Wellesley Board of Trustees
gave the go-ahead in January for the College to begin
planning a campus center, beginning with the selection of
building and landscape architects. A committee that
proposed the facility recommended that it house a
bookstore/café, space for student organizations, a
large multi-purpose space for performances and social
functions and formal and informal meeting spaces.
Wellesley College is a prominent liberal arts college
and has been a leader in the education of women for
nearly 125 years. The College's 500-acre campus near
Boston is home to about 2,300 undergraduate students.
Wellesley's distinguished alumnae include Secretary of
State Madeleine K. Albright, First Lady Hillary Rodham
Clinton, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, and broadcast
journalists Cokie Roberts, Diane Sawyer, and Lynn
Sherr.
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