The 2012 fundraising year ended June 30 with the largest number of donors contributing to Otterbein in its history. The University also recorded nearly $6.5 million in gifts, making it the second largest amount of cash that was collected in a fiscal year in the institution’s history.
Equine students gave demonstrations at the dedication of the Austin E. Knowlton Center for Equine Science in September.
Four gifts totaled $4.4 million. The late Edwin (Dubbs) Roush ’47, established a trust that provided an additional $500,000 to the Roush Family Scholarship. The Pioneer Fund in Denver donated $1 million to Otterbein to establish the Lewis E. Myers ’1907 Scholarship for students pursuing bachelor’s degree in education. The gift honors Myers, father of the fund’s founder, Helen Myers McLoraine. Myers was a champion of education throughout his life and established Lewis E. Myers & Company, which developed and produced educational books and equipment.
The Austin E. Knowlton Foundation, Inc. in Cincinnati secured the naming rights of the Center for Equine Science with a $1.5 million gift in honor of its horse-loving founder, who died in 2003. Finally, the late Elmer N. Funkhouser, Jr. ’38 bequeathed $1.3 million toward the general operations endowment.