Gracious bequest with R.B. Stewart Society

There is a general consensus that success in life is a combination of personal drive and timely support. It can take many forms and from sources as varied as family members, academic advisors or workplace mentors. One Purdue alumnus has been motivated to give by his concern that many don’t have the advantages and resources that he did and as a way of expressing his gratitude for help he received along the way.

The R.B Stewart Society recognizes donors who choose to include Purdue in their estate. We are grateful for all donors who make provisions of this kind and are able to acknowledge gifts in whatever combination of public recognition or privacy preferred by our alumni. It is an incredibly personal decision and we appreciate those who make plans of this kind.

Recently, an alumnus from the 1970s rekindled a conversation with Eric Putman, chief development officer, and Scott Hinkel, director of development, about his estate plans. While he has opted for anonymity, the alumnus was willing to share some of the motivation for his bequest which will address two important initiatives: student support and the Lyles School of Civil Engineering more broadly.

The new deferred gift agreement established with Purdue provides clarity for future administrators on how to fulfill his charitable intent, and gives him confidence as it outlines the parameters for his future gift. “I designated Purdue a beneficiary of my IRA many years ago but taking the extra step to outline a gift agreement now assures me that my gift will be used for ongoing support of the school in ways that are important to me.”

The gift establishes a financial needs-based scholarship with the first $200,000 coming from his estate with the balance of his gift commitment creating a permanent endowment to benefit a broad array of projects and civil engineering initiatives.

He explained his interest in this way, “I believe a broadly unrestricted fund will equip Rao S. Govindaraju and future heads of the school with dollars to support strategic initiatives and the financial need scholarship was important to me. I also hope that by establishing these endowments others might be encouraged to make similar gifts.”

Reflecting on the new gift decision, Govindaraju expressed his gratitude as he noted, “Unrestricted funds are often the margin of excellence for our teaching programs and research initiatives. Gifts like these help the Lyles School of Civil Engineering faculty purchase new equipment and help us adopt and develop new technologies like virtual labs. Students who will receive these scholarships will receive timely help with their tuition costs. The combination will be of great help to future Boilermakers!”

To learn more about the R.B. Stewart Society or to start a conversation about how to effectively communicate your future gift intentions, please contact Eric Putman at EAPutman@purdueforlife.org.