Donor Spotlight: Patrick Nearing

Funding excellence

Field trips, guest speakers, internships and conferences are among the co-curricular opportunities that make an EOU education meaningful for so many students. Many of these projects require additional funding, beyond typical academic allocations, and Patrick Nearing, ’75, wanted to ensure that students would have access to these enriching activities for generations to come. 

Nearing, who just finished a term as EOU Foundation President, established the Deans’ Fund for Excellence in fall 2020 so the leader of each college could prioritize and support hands-on learning for their students and faculty. 

“During the year there often come up either special projects or educational opportunities that need funding,” Nearing said. “The deans of each of the schools are knowledgeable about these opportunities and can make the best use of the funds.”

Nearing founded the Deans’ Fund for Excellence endowment through the EOU Foundation so that fellow alumni and community members could also contribute to it. 

“My hope for this fund is that it will continue to grow through other donations so that students and faculty can take full advantage of all alternate educational opportunities,” Nearing said. “As Oregon‘s Rural University there are many unique educational opportunities that students and faculty will be able to access because of the Deans’ Fund for Excellence.” 

As a long-time donor to the EOU Foundation, Nearing sees philanthropic support as critical to the university’s ability to carry out its mission. 

“As state funds continue to dry up, the money that the Foundation provides to support students becomes ever more important,” he said. “I also support the Foundation because EOU is my alma mater. The education I received here has helped give me opportunities I could not have dreamed of. Because of this I would like to see others have those same opportunities so that they can fulfill their own dreams.”

To learn more or contribute to the Deans’ Excellence Fund, contact the EOU Foundation at 541-962-3740 or foundation@eou.edu.