Ohio Wesleyan Alumnus Endows Fund to Support International Learning, Travel
Ezra F. Vogel
DELAWARE, OHIO – Through his teaching, writing, and speaking, Ohio Wesleyan University alumnus and retired Harvard University professor Ezra F. Vogel, Ph.D., has endeavored to build bridges between the Far East and America.
With his latest gift to Ohio Wesleyan, Vogel is helping to ensure that future generations of scholars and leaders are able to maintain and strengthen those bridges. The 1950 Ohio Wesleyan graduate is establishing a permanent endowment to support OWU students engaged in international study, including research and travel involving East Asia.
Vogel is giving Ohio Wesleyan all proceeds from the mainland China printing of his critically acclaimed book, “Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China.” The 928-page biography has been praised as a “masterful new history of China’s reform era,” examining the legacy of Xiaoping, a leader of the People’s Republic of China from 1978 to 1992.
Based on the book’s initial printing, Vogel’s gift is expected to yield at least $500,000 for the “Ezra Vogel ’50 Student Support Endowed Fund for East Asia.”
President Rock Jones, Ph.D., said the generous and innovative gift reflects Vogel’s passion for education and his understanding of the need for students to have global learning experiences.
“This is classic Ezra,” Jones said. “It’s smart, and it’s spot-on. This is the type of transformative gift that will create limitless dividends for Ohio Wesleyan students. The university is committed to providing a strong liberal arts education that prepares our students for the global stage. Ezra understands and supports that mission. We are grateful for his continued support.”
Vogel, a native of Delaware, Ohio, studied sociology/anthropology at Ohio Wesleyan. His previous contributions to the university include establishing the Joseph and Edith Vogel Lecture Series in honor of his parents.
Vogel currently is the Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences Emeritus at Harvard and the former director of Harvard’s Fairbank Center for East Asian Research and the Asia Center. From 1993 to 1995, he served as the National Intelligence Officer for East Asia at the National Intelligence Council in Washington, D.C.
His new endowment will be administered by Ohio Wesleyan’s provost in support of the faculty-created “OWU Connection” curricular initiative. The initiative links academic theory and real-world experience in nearly every course of study at Ohio Wesleyan and encourages students to participate in off-campus and international learning experiences.
Read more about Vogel’s book at http://www.hup.harvard.edu. Learn more about Ohio Wesleyan’s commitment to global learning and its OWU Connection curricular initiative at https://www.owu.edu. Learn more about giving to the university at https://www.owu.edu/alumni-and-friends/give-to-owu/make-a-gift/.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities. Ohio Wesleyan offers more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. OWU combines an internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that connect classroom theory with real-world practice. Located in Delaware, Ohio, OWU’s 1,850 students represent 41 states and 45 countries. The university is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the 2012 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction, and included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.