Cosmos Club Foundation Report for 2014
The Cosmos Club Foundation’s three hallmark
efforts continue to thrive thanks to the
most welcome and important generosity of Club
members and friends. The Trustees and Advisors
once again are profoundly grateful to the
McGovern Foundation and the Shields Foundation
for their continuing and exceptional gifts
to the Foundation. A gift by Gary Nordlinger in
honor of his uncle, Gerson Nordlinger, enabled
the Foundation to add a named grant in the arts
and humanities to the Cosmos Scholars program.
The Trustees also voted to name a grant
in biomedical science for Joseph K. McLaughlin
in recognition of his generous and continuing
support for the goals of the Foundation. In calendar
year 2013 the Foundation received contributions
from 200 members of the Cosmos Club;
we are grateful for each and every donation.
The McGovern Award in Science was presented
to Harold Varmus on November 18, 2013
in recognition of his insights into the genetics
of cancer cells that have led to important developments
in the treatment of disease in patients.
Christoph Eschenbach received the McGovern
Award in Arts and Humanities on February 5,
2014, for enriching the world of music as conductor,
soloist, music director and mentor. Both
programs were attended by a full house of Club
members and members of the public, who participated
in lively question and answer sessions
after Harold Varmus’ informative and witty talk
and Deborah Lamberton’s splendid interview of
Maestro Eschenbach.
Author David McCullough and economist
Alice Rivilin each received the Cosmos Club
Award, the stipend and citation for which is
provided by the Cosmos Club Foundation. Club
members and their guests were educated and
entertained by these two splendid additions to
the distinguished roster of awardees.
The Cosmos Scholars program flourished
once again under the sterling leadership of Trustees
Ann Sheffield and Priestley Toulmin. The
185 applications for grants in aid were markedly
superior this year. For this reason, and thanks
to the generosity of our donors, we were able to
increase the amount awarded even though the
number of awards remained the same (26) as the
previous year. Since its inception the program
has supported 325 graduate students and allocated
almost $550,000 to their efforts.
The annual Scholars Dinner was well attended
by 101 Club members and guests, current
and former Cosmos Scholars, faculty mentors
and university officials. The student presentations
of research results made possible by the
scholarships were notable for the quality of their
efforts and the variety of topics studed.
The Foundation engaged a professional
archivist to bring order to our paper records,
which date from 1967. As that project nears
completion the Trustees are contemplating how
to proceed to archive the voluminous electronic
records and e-mails produced during the last
two decades.
The Foundation’s financial position is fully
shown on the IRS Form 990, a public document.
As the Form 990 shows that only 13.4 percent of
the expenditure went to management and general
expenses such as accounting and insurance,
you can be confident that your contributions are
supporting our three programs.
Cosmos Club Foundation year-end financial results in dollars
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
Contributions | 95,520 | 122,525 | 155,370 |
Dividends and interest | 33,926 | 36,740 | 44,638 |
Investment appreciation | (6,396) | 139,334 | 310,694 |
Scholars' grants | 45,001 | 42,750 | 49,955 | 62,210 |
Awards, other expenses | 34,790 | 27,216 | 26,493 |
Assets at year-end | 1,577,334 | 1,805,968 | 2,240,222 |
Gerald B. Kauvar, Chair
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