Champions of the Rising Stars
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Meet the Foundation Board Every director on the Curry School Foundation board shares three common characteristics:
nnovative education research by early career professors at the Curry School is getting a boost thanks to two astute donors brought together by the Curry Foundation.
They are passionate about universal accessibility to excellent education. They are believers in the mission and capability of the Curry School. They are generous donors to the Curry School Foundation.
Richard R. “Dick” Abidin is a well-known professor emeritus of the Curry School, who founded our Clinical Psychology program in the 1960s and achieved prominence as a scholar and leader in his field.
Peter explained. The fund will give the dean some resources for supporting promising research ideas and retaining the bright, energetic faculty members behind them.
Peter K. Scaturro, a father of a second year student at U.Va., is a retired financial executive—a former bank CEO and partner at Goldman Sachs.
An important element of their idea was annual reporting to donors on the research their gifts support. “We both believe that there are individuals who will provide philanthropic funding and who will be interested in following the supported research as a way of being connected to Curry,” Dick said.
Dick and Peter met just last year, when both joined the Curry Foundation board. Despite their divergent career paths, both men care deeply about education. They believe in the Curry School mission and its leadership. Both understand the competitive landscape of the education school marketplace and the importance of differentiating the Curry School as a center for innovative thinking. From their vantage point on the board, they learned that early stage education research—especially by newer “rising star” faculty members—is often stymied in its infancy because funding at that level is so elusive. Dean Bob Pianta told the board about potentially significant educational innovations that lose traction without adequate financing or that go off with faculty entrepreneurs to other universities with better resources. Dick and Peter put their heads together and brought an idea to the board—one in which they were so vested they were willing to seed it with their own sizable gifts: A Dean’s Research and Development Fund.
They see the fund as a new avenue of engagement for alumni and friends in the work and mission of Curry. “Those who want to support innovative research and be able to follow the progress of the projects will now have a horse in the race to champion,” Dick said. The next challenge is getting out the word and finding like-minded donors who will join them in supporting the Dean’s R&D Fund. While Dick knows from personal experience the value of this kind of support for early career faculty members, Peter knows it makes perfect business sense for the Curry School’s reputation. “We think this fund will help keep the Curry School at the front of the pack,” he said.
The Curry Foundation board of directors is a diverse and dynamic group of professionals who have committed themselves as fundraisers and ambassadors of the School, promoting Curry’s work among their networks of colleagues and acquaintances. The cumulative expertise of this board ensures that your gift is being used to its best advantage to advance the growth of the Curry School and the success of its students.
Of the 34 directors on the Board… 14 are Curry School alumni 2 are current Curry students 2 are Curry faculty members 1 is a faculty emeritus 6 are U.Va. alumni (other than Curry) 17 are Virginia residents, and the rest live scattered across the U.S.
13 Currently work in or are retired from education-related profession
15 have had successful careers in corporate, legal, investment, or financial fields
Others are mental health professionals, leaders in non-profits and foundations, or active in community service.
Officers Sandra F. Stern (Ed.D. ’85 Curry), Chair
Daniel M. Meyers
Paulette G. Katzenbach, Vice Chair
Margaret K. Frischkorn Meyers, (M.T. ’98 Curry)
Andrew J. Rotherham (M.Ed. ’00 Curry), Vice Chair
Jason M. Palmer, (B.A. ’94 College)
Cynthia T. Galant (B.A. ’80 College), Secretary
Stewart D. Roberson, (B.A. ’77, M.Ed. ’81, Ed.D. ’87 Curry)
Paul H. Sartori (M.A.T. ’70, Ph.D. ’75 Curry), Treasurer
Linwood Rose (Ed.D. 87 Curry), BOV Representative
Board Members
Peter Scaturro Marvin N. Schoenhals
Richard R. Abidin
Tom Skalak, President’s Appointee
Carol Armstrong (B.S. ’76 Curry)
Greg Sommers (B.A./M.T. ’97 Curry)
Michael B. Baughan (B.A. ’81 College)
Elizabeth G. Staunton (B.S. ’85 Curry)
Christine Bavaro
Kelsey Tetsworth, Student Representative
David W. Breneman
W. McIlwaine Thompson, Jr. (J.D. ’72 Law)
Hilary G. Dack (M.Ed. ’11 Curry), Student Representative
Pamela Tucker, Faculty Representative
Martha Downer-Assaf (Ph.D. ’97 Curry)
Jamelle Wilson (B.A./M.T. ’91, Ed.D. ’02 Curry)
Doug Erwin
Merrill Woodriff (B.A./M.T. ’98 Curry)
Ragan Folan (B.S. ’82 Commerce)
The new fund supports early development research that has the potential for significant impact on the field of education and long-term economic return to Curry.
Jennifer Hunter
Ex-Officio Members
Sheila C. Johnson
Robert C. Pianta, Dean and University Professor
Peter Kelly
Jane R. Buck, Chief Operating Officer
Alana Levinson-LaBrosse, (M.Ed. ’08 Curry)
Margaret Ann Bollmeier, Executive Director
“I have always believed that in order to increase the effectiveness of talented people like Dean Pianta you need to give them the flexibility to move quickly and make some decisions on the spot,”
William A. Marr, Jr., (B.A. ’67 College)
Jeff Boyd (B.S.C. ’95 Commerce), Director of Development
If you would like to know more about the Deans R&D Fund, contact the Curry Foundation staff at curry-foundation@virginia.edu
2012-2013 ANNUAL REPORT
Curry School of Education Foundation 417 Emmet Street South • PO Box 400276 Charlottesville, VA 22904-4276 Call 434-924-0854 to speak to our Foundation staff
CURRY SCHOOL of EDUCATION FOUNDATION