MISSION

To support the University of South Alabama, balancing current contributions with future growth.

Since 1990, the Foundation has contributed more than $131 Million in support of the University of South Alabama, its students, faculty and academic programs.

A total of $2,254,898 was contributed by the Foundation to the University of South Alabama through December 31, 2012.

Continuing the Foundation’s mission to support the University, the Foundation purchased Brookley in response to the University’s defined most critical and important need, to secure funding for the Pediatric Expansion of USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital. The purchase of Brookley in November, 2010, allowed the Pediatric Expansion to move forward. To date, the Foundation has paid $12 Million to the University, with the final two installments to be paid in November, 2013 and 2014.

In 2011, the Foundation Board approved a gift of $500,000, to the Excellence Endowments of the College of Engineering and the School of Computing, which will enable funding of activities in those two academic units.

The net assets of the USA Foundation were $283,637,000 at December 31, 2012, compared to $283,761,000 at fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

Philosophy of Endowment Foundations

The central philosophy of endowment foundations is to assure the purchasing power over the long run of the endowment assets, while supporting the current operating needs of an institution. As David F. Swensen, Chief Investment Officer, Yale University, in Pioneering Portfolio Management states:

“Successfully managed endowments retain forever the ability to provide a particular level of institutional support, justifying the classification of endowment funds as permanent assets. Pursuit of long-term asset preservation requires seeking high returns, accepting the accompanying fundamental risk and associated market volatility.”

An endowment foundation balances these two divergent requirements. The Board of Directors of the Foundation evaluates these two forces of endowment accumulation while providing an incremental source of funds to allow the University to be a truly superior one, acting in a prudent manner to meet both objectives.