Students, faculty and education: The foundation of many public universities. But without money, a university the size of Iowa State would not be possible.

Iowa State’s largest funding campaign, the Forever True, For Iowa State campaign, has received one of its largest donations to date, reaching an astonishing $93 million from two married university alumni who wish to remain anonymous.

The donation was announced during a news conference Wednesday morning in the Memorial Union.

“It is the dream of every dean to experience a gift of this magnitude,” Beate Schmittmann, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said. “It presents a tremendous opportunity to expand the liberal arts and sciences of this university.”

The gift, which represents an equity stake in Curriculum Associates Inc., an educational consultant firm located in Billerica, Massachusetts, will have a direct impact on the student body.

“This company is a leader in educational technology,” Larissa Holtmyer Jones, president and CEO of the Iowa State University Foundation, said. “Its products have proven impact on accelerating student growth, helping students get on grade level at a faster pace and contributing to closing the achievement gap.”

The donation, which will take the form of an endowment, will have an impact on the entire university in the coming future, specifically impacting the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, the theater program and the emerging programs in data science.

Provost Jonathan Wickert said this gift is fantastic for the university. 

“It’s very exciting because the initial area of focus for the gift will include some areas on campus that have not necessarily been the beneficiaries of gifts like this in the past,” Wickert said. “Our theatre department, for instance, it is an outstanding program and so many of our students learn and grow and really find their place at Iowa State in the program.”

Though a school of science and technology, Iowa State’s arts and humanities programs have been recognized nationally. The hope for this gift is to continue its outstanding enrollment rate as well as to allow it to expand into new areas of communication excellence.

“It’s an incredible gift because it will be transformative for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,” Wickert said. “That’s very important because every student on campus takes classes in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, so this gift literally will benefit every student on our campus.”

More specifically, however, university will begin to see the money in direct ways. The money will begin to take the form of scholarships and internships as well as doing its part in attracting more skilled, educated and renown faculty from all over the country and the world.

Other programs that may begin to see the impact from the donation will include study abroad, undergraduate research and any other initiatives that will provide students and scholars with “transformative experiences,” Schmittmann said.

Students who aspire to be in the arts will continue to prosper thanks to the donation made to the foundation.

An example of such is Iowa State graduate Scott Siepker. Siepker became a performing arts student after discovering that his passion did not lie is his previous major of psychology.

“Without the open arms that the Iowa State University theater department offered [me], I would not be standing here,” Siepker said. “I certainly never would have realized my dream.”

Donations such as this will continue to create university graduates such as Siepker, who has no one but the university to thank for discovering his dream.

The Forever True, For Iowa State campaign has continued to accrue money, and is now valued to have raised about $592 million of its $1.1 billion campaign, surpassing the halfway mark of the goal not 16 months after it was initiated.

“It is because of the deep loyalty of our alumni, our donors, our friends, that we [the university] believe we can actually reach these goals,” President Steven Leath said.