Economy triples Vilas Trust funds

Due to the healthy economy and a one-time capital gains increase, Vilas Trust money available for spending in 1999-2000 will be about three times larger than usual.

Annual income from the trust – established in the will of UW alumnus William F. Vilas – usually totals $7 million each year. But the one-time infusion in the trust from its investment gains has made possible this year’s plan to spend just over $20 million.

Under the rules of the trust, money not spent this year, would be returned to the endowment and could not be spent.

“This extra income allows us to expand some of the ongoing fellowship, scholarship and research support programs specified in the trust,” says John Torphy, vice chancellor for administration. “It also provides us with some one-time, private-sector support, which we will use to match funding that we hope to receive in the state budget.”

“I want to make clear that none of this one-time funding replaces state monies, and it’s only available for one year,” Torphy adds.

Vilas, a former U.S. senator and presidential cabinet member, died in 1908 and bequeathed his estate to the university. The UW System Board of Regents is expected to act on the plan at a May 6-7 meeting.

As permitted by the trust, the university plans to allocate $11.45 million to help pay for the $52 million Engineering Centers project. Another $1 million will be used to provide promised private-sector support consistent with the Madison Initiative that is part of the state budget plan. Of that $1 million, $750,000 will be used to create 10 Vilas young investigator awards for newly hired assistant professors. Another $247,175 will fund the creation of 12 additional Vilas Associates, which target untenured faculty and those conducting interdisciplinary research.

Other one-time spending includes $2.55 million to create 170 research investigator awards for graduate students and $1.275 million to create 4,250 scholarships for undergraduates eligible for need-based financial aid related to the Madison Initiative.