Each of UC's 2,600 endowment funds has its own story and makes its own impact. Each one supports a specific scholarship, professorship, research project, or other program; and, ultimately, UC’s mission.
From helping a student afford to attend college, to sponsoring a lecture series that inspires a future career, to developing a life-saving drug, to exonerating an innocent life...their missions are varied and their stories and impacts reach far and wide; and it's the privilege of the Investment Office to work ambitiously day-by-day to drive investment gains in order to maximize those impacts.
Two programs we're particularly proud to support through the endowment are the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP) and the Gen-1 Impact House. These programs are making an immeasurable impact thanks, in part, to the perpetual gifts which helped to establish and continue to provide funds for each endeavor.
The goal of the Ohio Innocence Project is to exonerate every wrongly-convicted Ohioan. Harnessing the energy and intellect of UC law students as its driving force, OIP seeks to identify inmates in Ohio prisons who are actually innocent of the crimes they were convicted of committing. Since its founding in 2003, the Ohio Innocence Project has helped 42 individuals obtain their long-sought freedom.
We are their last hope. Someone to advocate and believe in them and fight for them when no one else will.
Mallorie Thomas Former OIP Fellow
Gen-1 is a groundbreaking UC program and the nation's first living-learning community to focus on first-generation college students. The Gen-1 Program was established in 2008 and is a living and learning community that shepherds Pell-eligible, 1st generation college students helping to ensure academic success through high-intensity advising, academic courses, and co-curricular experiences. One such measure of success is Gen-1's 92% 1st-to-2nd-year retention rate — well above the national rate of 62%.
July 6, 2026
As a fourth-year English student and recipient of multiple scholarships, Anthony Brown, A&S '30, is no stranger to ambition.
July 1, 2026
This spring, the University of Cincinnati Emeriti Association (UCEA) awarded its first-ever scholarship to a first-generation undergraduate student, marking a milestone years in the making.
June 17, 2026
The University of Cincinnati Foundation is proud to announce that seven dedicated community members are joining its board of trustees. Ray Brooks, CEAS ’83; Chris Carper, A&S ’93; Tim Giglio, Bus ’84; Nandita Jena, A&S '03, Bus '03 and Chris Lewis, MD, Med ’00 will begin their term in October 2026. In addition to this esteemed group, two new student trustees, Case Trokhan, Med ’26 and Joseph Verry, Med ’30 are joining the board.
June 8, 2026
The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine’s Anita Afzali, MD, leads a landmark study revealing five-year efficacy and safety data for a Crohn’s disease drug called guselkumab.
May 28, 2026
The University of Cincinnati’s new Imaging Research & Development Center on its Cincinnati medical campus brings UC, UC Health, Cincinnati Children’s, GE HealthCare and JobsOhio together to advance MRI research and accelerate imaging innovation.
May 25, 2026
Join the University of Cincinnati on June 10 for a unique conversation on opioid use disorder during pregnancy, featuring landmark trial data and firsthand patient lived experience.