ENDOWMENT REPORT 2024
MESSAGE from the PRESIDENT
Thank you for supporting Seattle University’s mission through your contributions to endowments benefitting our students, faculty and programs across campus. It is my privilege to share this year’s report on Seattle University’s Endowment performance for the 2023-2024 fiscal year and to highlight the meaningful impact of your generosity.
Your commitment empowers us to fulfill our mission of educating values-driven leaders through a challenging academic curriculum rooted in Ignatian principles and taught by our exceptional faculty.
Looking ahead, your support will continue to strengthen the foundation of Seattle University, enabling us to advance mission-aligned growth and enhance our dedication to serving our students, faculty, staff and alumni. These efforts are integral to achieving the ambitious goals outlined in our 2022-2027 strategic framework, Reigniting Our Strategic Directions.
I am deeply thankful for the many ways you support our students and Seattle University’s mission to thrive as a Jesuit, Catholic university of distinction in these transformative times.
Warm regards,
Eduardo Peñalver President, Seattle University
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY
ENDOWMENT
Endowments created and supported by Seattle University’s alumni and friends provide a perpetual legacy of financial support for our students, faculty, programs and centers. Endowments strengthen the university’s foundation and enables SU to deliver an inclusive and holistic educational experience that is grounded in universal values and prepare our students to help shape the world for the better.
Comprised of 548 individual endowment funds, the Seattle University Endowment provides critical support that enables SU to maintain its competitive edge in attracting exceptional students and faculty, provide greater and more equitable access to a Jesuit education and offer our schools and colleges the opportunity to innovate and grow with new programs, initiatives, technology, research and more.
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David Sundberg, ESTO
“This scholarship has greatly impacted my academic experience. With this financial support I was able to focus on my academics without worrying about tuition expenses. This allowed me to fully dedicate all my time to studying and making the most of this opportunity. I’m so grateful for this unmeasurable chance to gain knowledge from Seattle U. Without this scholarship, I would not be here and would not be in this country. It is something I never will take for granted. I can’t emphasize enough that my heart is filled with gratitude to the scholarship donors. You are heroes!”
RWANDA MUSANZE, ‘24
Gashora Girls Academy of Science and Technology Scholarship
Major: Computer Science
$13.14M
In FY 2024, distributions totaling $13.14 million from the Seattle University Endowment provided critical support to key university priorities and colleges, schools and initiatives across campus.
A LASTING TRIBUTE
Nursing scholarship leaves a lasting tribute while inspiring tomorrow’s nurses.
By KIYOMI KISHABA
The Seattle University College of Nursing is known for its commitment to educating compassionate and knowledgeable health care professionals. Kim Buike and his late wife, Mary Buike, ’86, experienced this level of care firsthand during Mary’s battle with ovarian cancer. To honor the nurses who cared for her during her three years fighting cancer, Kim and Mary established the Mary Buike Memorial Scholarship.
Mary graduated from SU in 1986 with a degree in Psychology. She loved the outdoors, enjoying gardening, hiking and sailing. She began her medical field career as an orderly in the Radiology Department at Swedish First Hill and Northwest Hospitals and later transitioned to a Certified Physicians’ Coder (CPC) with UW Physicians.
With her active lifestyle, she recognized quickly after her 50th birthday that something felt wrong with her body. Unfortunately, it took nearly a year of medical evaluation for Mary to receive the proper diagnosis of ovarian cancer, which was already at an advanced stage. During her battle with the disease, Mary actively advocated for increased awareness and early detection of ovarian cancer in hopes of preventing similar misdiagnoses in other women.
“It was important to Mary that her experience would not be repeated and that more women would learn about ovarian cancer early. Mary loved the idea of establishing a nursing scholarship because it’s a way her story would be told.”
—KIM BUIKE
“It was important to Mary that her experience would not be repeated and that more women would learn about ovarian cancer early to know symptoms and seek opinions,” said Kim.
One particular nurse, Rachel Bierlein, ‘18, was exceptionally attentive and positive during Mary’s final stay at Swedish First Hill in 2017. Mary and Kim learned Bierlein was working as a Certified Nursing Assistant while enrolled at Seattle University’s College of Nursing and faced the financial burdens of a nursing education. This inspired the creation of an annual scholarship to acknowledge the incredible care Mary received from nurses, especially Bierlein, and to tell Mary’s story to future medical professionals.
“Mary loved the idea of establishing a nursing scholarship because it’s a way her story would be told,” says Kim. Mary learned a few days before she passed that the first Mary Buike Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Bierlein.
Kim decided Mary’s story should live on in perpetuity and worked with the SU development team to endow the scholarship. The Mary Buike Memorial Scholarship has now supported seven nursing students, each of whom have met with the family for lunch, where Kim tells them Mary’s story and gives them an ovarian cancer awareness pin. College of Nursing Dean Butch de Castro shares, “Kim is dedicated to the success of each scholarship recipient and to ovarian cancer awareness. We are overwhelmingly grateful for his continued partnership through philanthropic support.”
“Most of the recipients have said, ‘I’m going to wear this pin on my badge and when people ask about it, I’m going to tell Mary’s story,’” says Kim. “That is the perfect ongoing connection that Mary would love.”
Mary Buike, ’86
“Aside from easing some of the financial burden, this scholarship has made me feel seen and understood,” says recent scholarship recipient Kaci Rexilius, ’23. “This scholarship gives me confidence that its contributors believe in me...and it pushes me to honor Mary by finishing strong and pursuing a lifetime of learning.”
For Kim, sharing Mary’s story with the scholarship recipients and supporting their journeys in health care is a beautiful way to honor Mary’s legacy.
“The idea of a scholarship endowment in perpetuity has a lot of meaning,” says Kim, “and it is important that the family for whom the scholarship is named continues to be involved. When I pass on, I hope Mary’s daughter takes over and I envision Mary’s 8-year-old granddaughter taking over one day. The endowment is a legacy and in this case, it is Mary’s legacy, one of many.”
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS TEACHER CORPS PROGRAM (CSTC)
Seattle University launches inaugural Catholic Schools Teacher Corps program and endowment to support it in perpetuity.
By KIYOMI KISHABA
In August 2024, Seattle University, in partnership with the Ferry Foundation, Fulcrum Foundation and the Archdiocese of Seattle, launched the inaugural Catholic Schools Teacher Corps (CSTC) program. This initiative is a solution to the annual teacher deficits experienced by Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Seattle. It also enables new educators to pursue their Master of Education at Seattle University while serving in their local communities.
To continue this groundbreaking program, an endowment has been established to support Catholic teaching in perpetuity.
“I am incredibly excited to partner with the Archdiocese of Seattle to bolster Catholic educators in our Seattle community,” says Provost Shane P. Martin. “This program is, at its core, an embodiment of Seattle University’s Jesuit values in caring for and serving our communities while pursuing excellence in higher education.”
The establishment of an endowment will have an exponential impact in the Seattle region and provide generations with the cornerstone values of Catholic teaching and leadership.
A crucial inaugural gift from the St. Joseph Foundation initiated the new endowment this past fall of 2024. The CSTC is working to fully fund the endowment in the next three to five years to support the program for years to come. With full funding, the CSTC program will welcome an annual cohort of 15 to 20 student’s with at least 75% continuing to teach in Catholic schools after graduation, creating a lasting impact.
“Having a fully funded endowment for the Catholic Schools Teacher Corps will allow us to comprehensively support the recruitment, teaching and learning, community living, spiritual growth and retention of Catholic school teachers in the Archdiocese of Seattle,” says Christopher Smith, Director, Catholic School Teacher Corps. “With excellent, passionate and justice-oriented educators in our schools, this program will create a lasting impact on the lives of countless students and their communities across the Pacific Northwest and Western Washington.”
During the two-year program, participants will be placed in Catholic schools, which will provide an opportunity for participants to teach and provide a solution to teacher deficits. While enrolled, participants will live together in groups of four to eight to cultivate deeper learning and their shared mission of service. The Archdiocese of Seattle will locate appropriate housing, such as former parish rectories and convents, that will further the connection between the program participants and their service community.
“This program is, at its core, an embodiment of Seattle University’s Jesuit values in caring for and serving our communities while pursuing excellence in higher education.”
— SHANE MARTIN, PROVOST
An important pillar of this program is spirituality. Along with teaching and learning, participants will have many opportunities to grow and deepen their faith. With Seattle University’s educational foundations rooted in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, CSTC participants will have rich resources to cultivate their spirituality.
After a year of laying the groundwork, the inaugural cohort of four to six CSTC participants will be enrolled in 2025 with the goal of increasing the next cohort to eight to 10. By the fifth year of the program, the CSTC will have a growing alumni community of Catholic school educators and be a known program for supporting participants and the schools they serve.
“Seattle University is uniquely positioned to take on this work as a Jesuit institution in Seattle, which strives to meet the needs of our neighbors,” says Smith. “I am thrilled to develop this impactful program that will educate and inspire teachers and students alike.”
Learn more about the CSTC program and support the endowment: https://www.seattleu.edu/cstc/
CHAMPIONING SUSTAINABILITY IN ACCOUNTING EDUCATION
Professor Valentina Zamora’s transformative leadership as the David E. Tinius Endowed Professor.
By KIYOMI KISHABA
As the current awardee of the David E. Tinius Endowed Professorship in Accounting, Professor Valentina Zamora’s innovative curriculum and research are making strides in incorporating sustainability values into accounting, receiving national attention.
The endowed professorship established in 2010 honors Professor David Tinius’s 35 years of teaching and leadership as Chair of the Department of Accounting. The endowment was created from more than 300 gifts, many of them from former students of Professor Tinius who were impacted by his teaching and mentoring. The professorship is designed to enhance the future contributions of a faculty member to the quality and prestige of the Albers School of Business and Economics.
Paul Bialek, ’82, had Tinius as his first professor in the Albers Accounting program and served on the committee that helped raise funds to establish the endowment.
“Dave left a profound mark within the financial and accounting community. He was a fabulous professor and he also fostered a great environment as the chair to empower all of the professors who worked very much in tandem with each other,” Bialek says. “Dave’s contributions to us all cannot be overstated. He is very worthy of the endowment in his name.”
Through the endowment, Tinius continues to leave a significant legacy at Albers. Last academic year, Zamora piloted a project that broadens the scope of a graduate accounting course to include learning activities related to ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance). These activities develop accounting students’ sustainability literacy in navigating sustainability related reporting, assurance and analysis. This work directly supports SU’s Reignited Strategic Directions and mission of providing a holistic education.
Zamora’s students used STARS reports to assess data trends in sustainability measures on campus and suggest actions to improve the scores. STARS, or Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating Systems, is a national reporting tool for universities to measure their sustainability performance. Seattle University first submitted a STARS report in 2016, receiving a GOLD rating with a score of 69.41. The most recent report from 2024 achieved a GOLD rating with a score of 83.87, making Seattle University #1 of all the GOLD STARS-rated schools and placing it in the Top 10 of all STARS-rated higher education institutions in the country.
This project utilized Seattle University as a “living lab” for students: a real-life environment to observe the lifecycle of innovation to create impact.
“SU is uniquely well-suited as a living lab setting because of our academic mission and Laudato Si’ commitment, as well as SU’s recent recognition as one among only a few higher education institutions with the highest quality sustainability data,” says Zamora, referring to STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating Systems).
“SU is uniquely well-suited as a living lab setting because of our academic mission and Laudato Si’ commitment, as well as SU’s recent recognition as one among only a few higher education institutions with the highest quality sustainability data.”
—VALENTINA ZAMORA
Zamora guided students through the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm approach of context, experience, reflection, action and evaluation on a sustainability measure they chose, which was later presented at a Seattle University Earth Talk event as part of festivities around Earth Day.
Mira Chang, ‘25 MS, was one of the students in Zamora’s course and presented her project at Earth Talks.
“Working on the project for Seattle University’s STAR report broadened my perspective on the role of accounting by highlighting its significant contribution to sustainability,” Chang says. “Analyzing Seattle University’s progress toward sustainability goals using quantitative data and reviewing the independent assurance report made me realize that accounting extends beyond financial metrics; it plays a vital role in measuring, validating and guiding organizations toward sustainable practices.”
Zamora was accepted to co-present with Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability Interim Director Yolanda Cieters at the 2024 Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Conference and Expo in October 2024. Their presentation, “Using STARS to Teach Sustainability (in Accounting): Reporting, Assurance and Analysis,” discussed the innovative accounting course project that inspired students to think critically about sustainability and incorporated student work to advance university sustainability goals.
With support from the professorship, Zamora can also pursue research projects focused on accounting practices in nonprofit organizations and the integration of AI. With two manuscripts under review and another project in the submission process, Zamora continues innovating accounting practices toward a more just and humane world.
HIGHLIGHTS & PERFORMANCE
AS OF JUNE 30, 2024
ENDOWMENT PERFORMANCE
The Seattle University Endowment is invested with a long-term view to ensure that it will grow at a rate above inflation, while also providing a stable stream of income to support the purposes for which each of its individual endowments were created.
The endowment’s overall net return for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024 was 9.0 percent. Our endowment benefitted from continued strong performance in the U.S. and international public equity markets during the 2024 fiscal year.
The endowment’s returns and asset allocation are monitored by Seattle University’s Investment Committee to assess our performance in comparison to peer schools. The key performance, investment and peer benchmarking highlights are outlined here.
MARKET VALUE
$318,305,000
TOTAL DISTRIBUTION
$13,144,000
TOTAL N U MBEROF 548 INDIVIDUAL E NDOWMENTS
ENDOWMENT MANAGEMENT
Seattle University’s investment strategies and risk management approach are tailored to balance the future purchasing power of endowment funds and meet current spending needs.
The university’s Investment Committee oversees the endowment fund. Cambridge Associates is the university’s Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO). The OCIO makes decisions as to how the endowment invests its assets based on asset allocation, distribution policies and restrictions defined by the Investment Committee. The OCIO is required to follow these instructions in all they do for the endowment.
UNIVERSITY
INVESTMENT COMMITTEE
CHAIR
Russell Hagen, SVP and Chief Development Officer, Weyerhaeuser Company
TRUSTEES
Pat Callans (ex-officio), EVP, Administration, Costco Wholesale Corporation
Robert Grimm, S.J.
Eduardo Peñalver (ex-officio), President, Seattle University
Ryan Sawyer, Principal, Viewpoint Capital Management
NON-TRUSTEES
Marisa Grant, Chief Investment Officer, Pugh Capital Management
Ben Graves, Investor, Cascade Asset Management Company
Jason Malinowski, Chief Investment Officer, Seattle City Employees’ Retirement System
Matt McBrady, Professor of Practice, University of Virginia Darden School of Business
Vera Minar, Partner, Serra Street Partners
Sam Smith, Investment Officer, University of Washington Investment Management Company
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY REPRESENTATIVES
Joe Cater, Associate Vice President for Finance and Controller
Lathan Chatfield, Graduate Student
Sarah Cox, Associate University Counsel
Vinay Datar, Professor, Department of Finance
Edgar Gonzalez, Vice President, University Advancement
Jordan Grant, Assistant Provost for Student Financial Services
Chris Malins, Vice President and CFO, Finance and Business Affairs
Bret Myers, Director, Treasury and Risk Management
Mary Petersen, Vice President and University Counsel
Sarah Rauf, Undergraduate Student
OUTSOURCED CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER (OCIO)
Cambridge Associates
For fiscal year July 1, 2023—June 30, 2024