Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation »
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Getting help to the neediest children around the globe is not only an international health priority, it is sometimes the difference between life and death. Vaccines are considered one of the most cost-effective interventions to raise health standards of children across the globe, but a lack of coordinated and prioritized procurement and distribution meant that many children in dire need weren’t always the first to receive them. A major grant from the Gates Foundation is now supporting the work of RIT faculty-researcher Rubén Proaño to study and help design a coordinated decision-support system for the global procurement of vaccines.
Henry Luce Foundation »
Henry Luce Foundation
RIT is home to one of the most impressive collections of 20th century modernist graphic design, and thanks to major support from the Henry Luce Foundation many more people will be able to access this world-renowned archive. The collection currently houses archives related to 42 designers active from the 1920s to the 1960s, as well as selected contemporary designers working in the modernist traditions. The foundation’s generous grant will allow an archivist to continue to process and re-house the items for long-term preservation, and begin a website redesign that includes digitization of selected works so they are accessible to scholars and designers around the world.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute »
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
RIT is one of 24 institutions nation-wide to conduct a five-year project to increase diversity and inclusivity among undergraduate science majors, which includes developing a strategy for supporting their success. These initiatives will serve as national models for other institutions.
The project will increase infrastructure, resources and expertise to strengthen inclusion in STEM education—embracing perspectives, strengths and insight from a multicultural base of faculty, staff and students in the natural sciences. Included in this population are transfer students and first-generation students. The focus is on three distinct areas, which support successful student experiences: the research lab, classroom environment, and informal community.
Kilian J. and Caroline F. Schmitt Foundation »
Kilian J. and Caroline F. Schmitt Foundation
In the fall of 2014, the beloved carillon bell system (also known as “the church bells”) on the RIT campus played for its final time. The decade-old system broke and was no longer supported by the companies in that industry. As students realized that the bells had gone silent, they began asking for their return, and RIT’s Student Government began drafting a petition asking that the system be replaced. In March of 2016 the Kilian J. and Caroline F. Schmitt Foundation made that possible. The Interfaith Center was initially constructed through a generous gift from the foundation, and their leadership knew how important the interfaith chapel was to their founders.
Statler Foundation »
Statler Foundation
Recognizing the truly global nature of hospitality and tourism, the Statler Foundation established Study Abroad Scholarships for undergraduate students in the CAST School of Hospitality and Tourism Management
Teagle Foundation »
Teagle Foundation
Employers and society are facing a problem. After decades of increased demand for specialized, highly technical skillsets, they’ve found many of today’s challenges cannot be solved by technology alone, and many professionals lack the broad skills to play a role in driving change. As a leading “institute of technology” RIT is one of five universities to split a significant grant over three years from the Teagle Foundation to transform how liberal arts coursework and content—ranging from the social sciences to the humanities and performing arts—are delivered in undergraduate engineering curricula. Intentional integration of liberal arts disciplines into STEM curricula will enrich technology-focused educations, and reinvigorate the traditional liberal arts
Waldron Rise Foundation »
Waldron Rise Foundation
RIT students and faculty from several disciplines put their creative problem-solving skills to good use developing solutions to address the challenges of the differently-abled. Along with faculty coaches, 33 students representing 14 RIT programs participated in this fall’s RIT Access Technology IdeaLab, made possible by a grant from the Waldron Rise Foundation.