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Professor Leaves Lasting Legacy

For information on giving a gift to the University, call the Office of University Affairs at (916) 278-6989 or (800) SAC-GRAD or e-mail advancement@csus.edu or vist www.csus.edu/pubaf/givingagift/.

Three years ago, English professor Robert Olmstead was looking for a way he and his wife Chris von Saltza could honor their parents. Taking into account the parents’ passion for education and his own 32-year involvement with Sac State, a scholarship in their names was, in his words, “a no-brainer.”

“We’re both really impressed with the efforts of the University to provide lowcost education to working people,” he says.

The scholarship gives preference to students who have been at Sac State for four years. “I’ve seen a lot of students struggle, particularly in their senior year, when they were working and trying to get into grad school,” he says. “We saw the scholarship as an area where we would be of real and immediate help.”

The $2,000 one-year scholarship alternates annually between biology and English. The couple got it up and running with a $10,000 endowment. Each year they fund the scholarship so that the money earned by the endowment can go back into the fund. Then, to ensure its continued success, Olmstead says, “we are leaving $50,000 to the University in our will so that when we die the scholarship will be fully funded.”

Giving the scholarships has been a “wonderful experience,” Olmstead says. One of the reasons he and his wife Chris chose to set up the scholarship to be awarded now rather than later was that they wanted to experience the fun of seeing students get the scholarships. They have the chance to get to know the scholarship winners and have even had them over for dinner.

The University offers a number of opportunities to commemorate individuals. Endowed funds provide an ongoing, perpetual source of funding for a scholarship, faculty position, program, department or College. Other naming opportunities are also available, such as academic programs, labs or buildings.

Contributions can be made to the CSUS Tribute Fund in the name of an honoree. Memorial funds may also be established to benefit a specific area of interest at the University.


For more information on giving a gift to the University, call the Office of University Affairs at (916) 278-6989 or (800) SAC-GRAD or e-mail advancement@csus.edu.

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