Invest In CUNY

Since 1937, Queens College has been preparing students of all backgrounds and financial means to become leading citizens of our global society. Hailing from 140 countries and speaking more than 66 languages, the students reflect the vibrant mix of cultures of Queens, the most diverse county in the nation. The college continually works to improve and refine the curriculum to give students a clear edge in this new era. It also recruits and retains exceptional faculty who combine a love of teaching with a dedication to scholarship. Cited annually in the leading college guidebooks, Queens was called “one of the nation’s 25 hottest colleges” by the Kaplan/Newsweek How to Get into College guide in 2008, and in 2009 it is being hailed as one of America’s “best-value” colleges by The Princeton Review. This fall it will open its first residential hall and implement recommendations of the 2007 Strategic Plan. The three major goals of this plan are: advance our academic programs, build a culture of community and solidify our financial foundation.

Philanthropic Support FY00-FY09 — $123,000,000
Projected Philanthropy Target thru FY2015 — $250,000,000

The college plans to meet its fund-raising goal not only by pursuing major gifts but also by using a reinvigorated annual fund, by looking for more sponsorship opportunities and by expanding its planned giving efforts. This will allow the college to solidify its endowment and offer more scholarships and more endowed professorships.

Gift Highlights
Among those who have given over $1 million are:

Look Who's Investing in Queens College

Virginia Frese Palmer

“Queens College turned me from an introvert afraid to speak my mind into an activist, a feminist and a real believer in helping others. I am so grateful.”

— Virginia Frese Palmer

In February 1938, at the height of the Great Depression, Virginia Frese did something unusual for a 15-year-old: She enrolled at Queens College because she knew it was the only chance she ever would have to get a college education. She graduated in 1942 and went on to have a remarkable career as a speech therapist and philanthropist. She has been generous to her alma mater, especially in supporting the Speech and Hearing Clinic and the Women and Work Program, an innovative lifeand job-skills training program that helps women re-enter the workforce. She also has donated millions of dollars in unrestricted funds to help the college develop some of its more important projects.

Max Kupferberg <pdf>

“I’m at the stage in my life where this money should be given away, and I always have been interested in Queens and what they’ve done for this community.”

— Max Kupferberg

Now in his 90th year, Max Kupferberg is modest about his generosity. “I am one of those fortunate people who has always had an interesting life,” says Mr. Kupferberg, ’42. It indeed has been an interesting and historic life for he was a member of the Manhattan Project during World War II. After the war, he returned to Queens, where he helped establish Kepco, one of the borough’s more successful businesses. Over the years, he has been an active and generous supporter of Queens College, being honored in 1981 as Alumnus of the Year. In 2003, he received the Q Award, which honors men and women whose lives are models for Queens College students. In 2005, Mr. Kupferberg and his wife, Selma, gave $10 million to the college, the largest donation it has received. Their gift established an endowment for the arts and helped to upgrade performing spaces. In recognition of their generosity, Colden Center was renamed the Kupferberg Center for the Visual and Performing Arts.