Fiscal Year 2025 Update

The Grainger College of Engineering

The Transformative Power of Your Investment

The Grainger College of Engineering’s legacy of excellence is built upon transforming problems into possibilities and ideas into innovations, with one goal: to advance the human condition.

Your philanthropic support transforms opportunities at every level by unlocking the potential of brilliant students, empowering the highest levels of teaching and research, building state-of-the-art facilities and supporting unparalleled success.

In this report, you’ll learn how, at Grainger Engineering, philanthropy bridges discovery and real-world impact. From scholarships to transformative spaces, research to innovative business incubators, the central Illinois prairie to the windy city of Chicago, together, we create possibilities that build a better future for all.

On behalf of all the students and faculty who directly benefit from your philanthropy, thank you for investing in The Grainger College of Engineering.

With gratitude,

Rashid Bashir

Dean, The Grainger College of Engineering
Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering

$67,437,408

Dollars raised

2,935

Donors

5,075

Gifts

1,469

Gifts between $1 and $100

439

First-time donors

$15,569,264

Unrestricted dollars raised

Data reflects Fiscal Year 2025 (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025) and is current as of August 1, 2025.

Juliette K. smiling and standing on a campus sidewalk with green-leafed trees and brick buildings in the background.

A specialized student experience

Juliette K. (’26, B.S. civil engineering) wanted to become an engineer to shape the environment. “From transportation to schools, workplaces, healthcare facilities, and more, the built environment shapes how we experience the world. I want to be a part of this impact by contributing in responsible, contextual ways that benefit the communities and the people within them,” she said.

Thanks to generous donors who contribute to the Engineering Visionary Scholarship initiative, Juliette can personalize her education and reach her full potential. “I chose The Grainger College of Engineering because of its incredible resources and the opportunity to pursue specialized paths within Civil Engineering. Grainger Engineering offers a unique education that allowed me to hone my specific passions through concentrations.”

Faculty empowerment and excellence

Grainger Engineering’s Technology Entrepreneur Center launched its inaugural academic-based startup accelerator program this year with 10 innovative student ventures. The Spring 2025 cohort of the Venture Development of Deep Tech Enterprises course represents a wide range of teams addressing critical challenges in health care, education, cybersecurity and more.

Led by the Richard and Gayle Landuyt Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship John Thode, the program demonstrates Grainger Engineering’s commitment to transforming student research and innovation into viable businesses. The Landuyt professorship is the first joint professorship for Grainger Engineering and the Gies College of Business. With their gift, the Landuyts are providing students with entrepreneurship opportunities and contributing to Illinois’ legacy as a national leader in entrepreneurial education.

Professor John Thode holding a microphone

An artist’s rendering of the Eltoukhy Lab.

Capital investments: The Eltoukhy Family Innovation Lab

The Eltoukhy Family Innovation Lab in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering will empower the next generation of material scientists and engineers to turn visionary ideas into tomorrow’s breakthroughs. The lab will be a collaborative, state-of-the art space sparking innovation by transforming how students learn and explore.

Renovating existing space on the first floor of the Materials Science and Engineering Building will create the lab. The only maker space of its kind in the U.S., the facility was made possible by a gift from Atef (’78, Ph.D., Metallurgical Engineering) and Fofa Eltoukhy, whose generosity kick-started this multi-phase building project.

Boldly Grainger Engineering opportunities: the college’s first named department headship

A passion for higher education combined with a desire to continue a legacy has resulted in the first named department headship in The Grainger College of Engineering — the Alva L. and Sandra R. Addy Head of Mechanical Science and Engineering. Tony Jacobi, department head of Mechanical Science and Engineering, says the unrestricted bequest expectancy offers the opportunity to support unifying faculty and staff events, plus the flexibility to support high-risk ideas.

Alva “Tad” Addy (’63, Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering), who passed away in 2018, was a pioneering fluid mechanics researcher, an Illinois alumnus, and a beloved professor and department head. His wife, Sandra Addy (’63, BS; ’67, MS; ’74, Ph.D., Education), worked in alumni relations and fundraising for the department.

Continue Your Support

Donors ensure that The Grainger College of Engineering remains a place where access meets excellence to shape a better future. Thank you for opening doors, changing lives and building a legacy of impact.