A new and flexible stream of income thanks to generous EAPS alum
We are delighted to announce that you can now help support EAPS in perpetuity through a gift or bequest of any amount to the newly established EAPS Endowed Fund.
Launched with an generous pledge of $200,000 from Peter A. Gilman PhD ’66 (XIX), we hope that through the generosity of other alumni and friends, the EAPS Endowed Fund will grow over time to provide EAPS with an annual stream of funding to generate new collaborations and ideas and meet other urgent needs. Given fluctuations in income from MIT, federal and private philanthropic sources, the new unrestricted endowment fund is most welcome news.
“We are thrilled that Peter chose to establish the new fund to benefit the whole department,” said EAPS Department Head Rob van der Hilst, “and we hope that other alums will be inspired to join him. We always need start-up funding to attract exciting new faculty and students, to inspire foundation research grants for innovative research, and to kickstart new collaborations.” This gift, and future ones to the fund, afford the EAPS community increased freedom and resources to pursue their best work. “Having our own dedicated endowment fund that can provide income for multiple purposes is like providing lifeblood to EAPS.”
One of the department’s most generous alumni, Gilman, Senior Scientist Emeritus at NCAR in Boulder, Colorado, has previously helped to fund the SPECULOOS telescope in Tenerife, and to endow the Gilman Exoplanet Research and Education Fund to support collaborative efforts in the exoplanet research community. “I have had a good experience funding those projects, and decided it was maybe time to do something closer to my origins,” he remarked, “and EAPS needs a source of flexible funding to start new things. You often can’t get federal agencies to support new ideas.” Gilman also wishes that the fund will appeal to a broader set of donors. “I hope my fellow alumni will also join me and maybe use their RMDs [Required Minimum Distribution from an IRA] to add to the EAPS Endowed Fund, and then they too can get the satisfaction of seeing exciting things happen during their lifetime.”
To make a gift to the EAPS Endowed Fund, visit Giving to MIT and choose the EAPS Endowed Fund (#3138705). Please contact Angela Ellis, EAPS Senior Development Officer at aellis@mit.edu or 617-253-5796 to discuss other options including IRA Charitable Rollovers, stock gifts, gifts of property, outright bequests or gifts that can provide you or a loved one with a lifetime income. You can also explore different gift options.
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