The Arizona State University Alumni Association will honor pioneering faculty members and alumni at its annual Founders' Day Awards Dinner, slated for 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 29 at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, 2400 E. Missouri Ave., Phoenix.

The award ceremony has been a signature event for the university for decades, and honors individuals who exemplify the spirit of the founders of the Territorial Normal School of Arizona, ASU's predecessor institution, which received its charter from the Thirteenth Territorial Legislature on March 7, 1885.

The ASU Alumni Association is proud to partner with the President's Club of the ASU Foundation for A New American University to present Jeanne and Gary Herberger with the Philanthropists of the Year Award. This award, first presented in 2010, provides the opportunity to thank community-minded citizens who are making a difference by providing support to the university, community organizations and institutions.

Jeanne and Gary Herberger epitomize the art - and heart - of philanthropy.

The art of philanthropy involves the creative and strategic application of resources to forward a perspective. The heart of philanthropy encompasses the contribution of personal time and talent to areas of individual passion that affect lives and better our world.

Jeanne and Gary, individually and together, have contributed nearly $28 million and thousands of hours to the development of Arizona State University over the past 30 years. Astounding as it is, this represents only one area of giving for the Herbergers, who are enthusiastically involved in many organizations, making significant contributions to the state of Arizona in education, women's issues, real estate development and the arts.

Most recently, the couple's generosity established the Gary Herberger Young Scholars Academy for gifted children at the West campus of ASU. Jeanne and Gary were integral in the development of this unique learning environment, spending many hours traveling nationwide to visit other programs. An advanced student himself, Gary felt strongly about the importance of a curriculum addressing the full spectrum of needs experienced by gifted children and they are delighted with the outcome.

Jeanne has strong connections to ASU as a three-time alumna of ASU's Hugh Downs School of Human Communication. An avid arts supporter, Jeanne served on the panel that selected Kwang-Wu Kim as dean of the ASU Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and is a member of the Dean's Leadership Cabinet, which provides strategic planning and advising. She is a founding Women & Philanthropy investor at the ASU Foundation for a New American University and was named honorary chair of the group for 2009-12.

Gary comes from a legacy of support for ASU, where he and his family have made more than 100 investments benefitting scholarships and programs in the colleges of the arts, business, public programs and design. He is a long-standing supporter of the ASU College of Design, now named the Design School within ASU's Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. He has provided valuable leadership in a variety of ways, including participation on the boards of the Design School and the Council for Design Excellence and involvement in the creation of the Herberger Center for Design Research, which has been a conduit for several million dollars in research funding over the past 20 years. He also supports research for the Digital Phoenix Project and has been a strong advocate for the creation of ASU's Master of Real Estate Development program.

It is for these and the multitude of other contributions they have made to ASU and Arizona that Jeanne and Gary Herberger have been selected as ASU's Philanthropists of the Year, an award presented by the President's Club of the ASU Foundation for A New American University. The ASU President's Club is a group of passionate men and women committed to transforming public higher education through their support of the ASU president. By providing intellectual and financial resources, members assist the president to further ASU as it sets a new model of public higher education, a New American University.

The following individuals also will be honored at the signature event:

  • Alumni Achievement Award: Randall McDaniel '02 B.S. and Stephen Teglas '89 B.S.
  • Faculty Achievement Research Award: Wayne Frasch, professor, School of Life Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
  • Faculty Achievement Service Award: Joe Lockard, associate professor, Department of English, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
  • Faculty Achievement Teaching Award: Karen Bruhn, Honors Faculty Fellow and principal lecturer, Barrett, the Honors College at ASU
  • Staff Achievement Award: Anna Wales, senior student engagement coordinator at ASU's Polytechnic campus

Tickets to the Founders' Day event are $130 for Alumni Association members and $175 for nonmembers. Table and corporate sponsorship opportunities are available. For additional information about Founders' Day, or to RSVP, visithttps://alumni.asu.edu/events/founders-day.

Scource: Arizona State University