Major Gifts to APSA Support New Partnerships and Diversity in the Discipline

“These significant gifts from Rogers Smith, Mary Summers and the Ivywood Foundation will help to substantially expand opportunities for public engagement in the discipline and enhance the impact of the discipline on students, higher education institutions, public policy and, more broadly, society.” — Dr. Steven Rathgeb Smith, APSA Executive Director

With great appreciation, the American Political Science Association (APSA) announces a major donation of $1.2 million from the Ivywood Foundation, which is substantially funded by the family of Rogers M. Smith, the current APSA President, as well as a personal donation of $200,000 from Rogers Smith and his wife, Mary Summers to the Generation to Generation Campaign for the Ralph J. Bunche Fund.

The generous gift from the Ivywood Foundation is dedicated to support for the APSA Presidential Task Force on New Partnerships, which is launching a variety of important initiatives to advance research, teaching, and civic engagement in the discipline. Task Force members represent thirteen different higher education institutions, including community colleges, regional universities, large public and private universities, and liberal arts institutions. Together, they are working to identify ways to form new partnerships—nationally, regionally, and locally— across ideological and institutional lines, and between academics and their communities. Broadly, the Task Force aims to strengthen the ties between political scientists and enhance the contributions of political scientists to civic life.

The Campaign for the Ralph J. Bunche Fund is a $2.5 Million fundraising effort to sustain the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute (RBSI) for future generations of political scientists. Every year, RBSI introduces undergraduate students from under-represented racial and ethnic groups to doctoral study in political science during a five-week intensive summer research program. Approximately $1.8 Million has been raised to date and program alumni, individuals and institutions are encouraged to pledge their support for diversity and inclusion.

“These significant gifts from Rogers Smith, Mary Summers and the Ivywood Foundation will help to substantially expand opportunities for public engagement in the discipline and enhance the impact of the discipline on students, higher education institutions, public policy and, more broadly, society,” observed Dr. Steven Rathgeb Smith, APSA Executive Director.  “On behalf of the association and the discipline of political science, I am deeply grateful for their support of the continued growth and development of political science and its role in the public sphere,” he added.

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The American Political Science Association is the largest membership association for political scientists worldwide.  The association and its members are committed to deepening our understanding of politics, democracy, and citizenship. Since its founding in 1903, the Association has grown to more than 12,000 individual and institutional members around the world. To learn more about supporting APSA, please contact development@apsanet.org or visit apsanet.org/Donate-Now.