From the Head and the Heart: Strategic Gift Directly Supports Duke Students
Gerald Hassell ’73, P ’08 has spent many years giving back to Duke in a number of ways. His most recent financial donation to the university is a carefully crafted gift that offers endowed and expendable funding for Duke strategic priorities, including financial aid.
Growing up in Miami the son of a butcher and a homemaker, Gerald Hassell figured his best path out of poverty was a scholarship to play football at a school where he could get an engineering degree.
Duke said yes to an academic scholarship, a loan, and a work-study job. “That’s the only way I was able to attend Duke,” Hassell says. Engineering was not in the cards—and football lasted only one walk-on year.
Hassell used his degree in economics to join The Bank of New York (now BNY Mellon), where he spent his entire career before retiring as CEO and Chairman. His experience convinced him how important it is to lend a hand to bright students who need help.
“I like to match my personal desires with the strategic priorities of the university,” he says. “So the vast majority of my giving has been to financial aid.”
Hassell has spent many years giving back to Duke in a number of ways. He has served as a university trustee since 2011, and served two decades on the Fuqua School of Business Board of Visitors, chairing it for five. His most recent financial donation to the university is a carefully crafted gift that offers endowed and expendable funding for Duke strategic priorities.
Half of the gift from Hassell and his wife, Agnes, went to undergraduate financial aid, augmenting an existing scholarship fund. They designated additional funds to the Duke LIFE program for first-generation and low-income students. Duke LIFE provides holistic support beyond tuition, fees, and room and board—including computers, tutoring and counseling. Learning about Duke LIFE’s work was a real “aha” moment for Hassell. He connected immediately with the needs first-gen students have beyond tuition and housing.
“That type of direct support is a real priority,” he says. “I had nothing when I was a student. This combination of financial aid and Duke LIFE funding is the best gift I could give to Duke.”
Another significant portion of the total is for financial aid at Fuqua and creates 14 challenge funds to incentivize other donors to create endowed scholarships with a 1:2 match, which will create over $6 million in endowed scholarship support for Fuqua students. The funds have a preference for first generation students and students who, by reason of their background, culture, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, gender, work, and life experiences, contribute to a fuller representation of perspectives within the academic life of Fuqua.
Another piece supports leadership training for Duke student-athletes, helping ensure that they have the skills to succeed in work and life once their competitive careers are over.
The final major portion benefits the Center for Computational Thinking, which is charged with re-imagining liberal arts education so every Duke student graduates with the data and computational skills needed to lead in any industry.
“I firmly believe that every vocation and discipline requires computational thinking to be successful,” Hassell says. “It’s important for graduates to be able to use both the creative and analytical sides of their mind.”
Of course, Hassell dedicated funds to the Trinity College and Fuqua annual funds, which he describes as “a down payment each year so Duke can operate and fulfill its strategic priorities. It’s a very important tool.”
And it’s that nuanced understanding of philanthropy that led to of the varied components of Gerald and Agnes’ gift paving a path to success for current students all over the university.
