Save the date and join us to celebrate!
The In Our Hands campaign total will be announced Monday, Feb. 14, 2022

In Our Hands: The Campaign for North Dakota State University concluded Dec. 31, 2021. This is the largest fundraising campaign in the history of higher education in the state of North Dakota. Join NDSU President Dean L. Bresciani for the big campaign total reveal and celebration on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, at 10:30 a.m., in the McGovern Alumni Center Diederich Atrium or streaming on the NDSU Foundation Facebook page.

Meet us in Arizona!
NDSU-hosted events planned for February

It's time to celebrate the successes of In Our Hands: The Campaign for North Dakota State University, and we want you to join us! This historic fundraising campaign will impact the lives of NDSU students well into the future. Gather with alumni and friends in celebration of the investments benefactors have made toward the future of NDSU. Visit the Arizona event webpage for more details on the Lift Up NDSU Reception, the NDSU Basketball Watch Party, and the Arizona Bison Golf Open.

NDSU's Bison Strides receives $100,000 Giving Hearts Day match
The $100,000 match will support equine-assisted services programming

North Dakota State University's Bison Strides is pleased to announce a gift of $100,000 as a Giving Hearts Day match from the John Ballantyne Donor Advised Fund, a component fund of the Fargo-Moorhead Area Foundation. The gift, provided through the NDSU Foundation, will support equine-assisted services programming at NDSU.

"Having this gift as our Giving Hearts Day match will be truly transformative for Bison Strides," Erika Berg, director of the NDSU Bison Strides program, said. "The contribution will have a lasting impact for the individuals we serve, the equines who support them, and the NDSU students pursuing an education in this field of study. To say that we are grateful does not describe the depth of appreciation for this generous gift."

Learn more about the program and how you can help meet the match on the NDSU Foundation news page.

2021 NDSU presidential search
Presidential search continues

The North Dakota University System State Board of Higher Education continues its search for the 15th president of North Dakota State University. The NDSU Presidential Search Committee has completed the initial round of candidate interviews. On site interviews are expected later in January. For more information on the search process, visit the NDSU Presidential Search webpage.

Philanthropy in action
NDSU faculty member appointed President Jim Ozbun Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship

Onnolee Nordstrom, assistant professor of management in NDSU's College of Business, has been selected as the inaugural holder of the President Jim Ozbun Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship. Nordstrom is an entrepreneurship scholar who studies questions relating to entrepreneurial ecosystems, non-economic outcomes of family businesses, and community development. Her appointment takes effect immediately.

"We are thrilled to have Dr. Onnolee Nordstrom taking on the role as our Ozbun Chair of Entrepreneurship," Scott Beaulier, the Ronald and Kaye Olson Dean of Business, said. "The Ozbun Chair is responsible for engaging students within the college and around the university in the ideas of entrepreneurship. Onnolee has been committed to doing this in her work at NDSU for many years, and I’m excited about the energy she will bring to the new role."

Read more about Onnolee and the Center for Entrepreneurship and Family Business at NDSU on the NDSU Foundation news page.

Campus news
NDSU earns classification as one of nation’s top research institutions

NDSU has been designated as an R1 research institution by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Carnegie's R1 distinction, titled "Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity," is its highest classification and is presented to only the top research institutions in the country.

For the 2021 list, 137 institutions were designated with the R1 status with 100 being public universities like NDSU. Only three universities in the six-state upper Midwest region of the country were designated as R1: the University of Minnesota, NDSU, and Montana State University.

"This is national acknowledgment that, at the highest performance level possible, NDSU is making the world a better place and helping to diversify North Dakota’s economy," NDSU President Dean Bresciani said. "From new crop varieties to cancer research, NDSU researchers are simultaneously confronting the most pressing issues of our day and bolstering our state’s economy."

Carnegie's list is updated every three years and considers a range of statistics, including each institution’s research expenditures, the number of doctorate degrees conferred, and the numbers of faculty, post-doctoral, and non-faculty research staff. From the data, an institution's research activity index is calculated to determine if they are part of the elite ranking.

Learn more about the designation and what it means for the University on NDSU's news page.

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