In FY2001, UH benefactors contributed $31.1 million in cash, stock, and other gifts. Of this total, $21.4 million supported current operations, $5.2 million added to the university’s endowment, and $4.5 million contributed to building and property projects. We are grateful for all those who gave. Among our many supporters this year were Lucile Melcher and the Rockwell Fund, Inc. They are representative of the broad range of donors who have contributed to the growth and excellence of the University of Houston.

A longtime UH benefactor, Lucile Melcher continues to support the university through gifts to programs and activities such as the Moores School of Music, specifically the endowment of the Lucile B. Melcher Violin Fellowships; as well as contributions to the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Dean’s Excellence Fund and the Women’s Studies Program. For more than thirty years, Lucile Melcher and her late husband, LeRoy, have donated millions of dollars to the university. Their most substantial donation was a lead gift in 1997 for the LeRoy and Lucile Melcher Center for Public Broadcasting, which houses KUHF-FM, HoustonPBS (KUHT-TV), and the Center for Public Policy Survey and Research Institute. Other major gifts from the Melchers include the College of Business Administration’s Melcher Hall in 1983 and the Melcher Gymnasium in 1967. The generosity of this influential couple has greatly contributed to the success of the university and has established a remarkable legacy for generations to come.

The Rockwell Fund, Inc. also has significantly benefited the University of Houston. Established in 1931 as a charitable trust in accordance with the will of James M. Rockwell, the Trust was reorganized as a Texas not-for-profit corporation in 1949. In FY2001, the Foundation continued its legacy of giving to UH libraries through a donation to the M.D. Anderson Library and Honors College expansion and renovation. In addition, the Rockwell Fund, Inc. generously supported the Moores School of Music. The Fund also has been a major benefactor of the A.D. Bruce Religion Center, the Texas Music Festivals, and many other UH programs and activities.