Kansas City, MO, Oct. 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The University of Missouri-Kansas City has launched the largest fundraising campaign in its 92-year history, a transformational initiative to improve lives through education, research, economic development and community engagement.
UMKC Chancellor Mauli Agrawal joined students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends and partners to kick off the campaign today at the State of the University with a celebration on campus.
“While our goal is ambitious, it will help us keep growing and thriving at a time when we’re already riding an incredible wave,” Agrawal said. “I’m inviting you to help turn today’s momentum into tomorrow’s breakthroughs to strengthen not just our university, but also our community and our world.”
With a goal to raise $700 million, the comprehensive campaign, Blue & Bold, is focused on funding three priorities to elevate UMKC’s mission in service to the region and globe: scholarships and student support; innovation, technology and entrepreneurial education as a national top-tier Carnegie Research 1 institution; and community engagement through services including healthcare, workforce development and other critical needs. The campaign has raised $335,869,017.02, nearly halfway towards its goal.
“UMKC is extraordinary. It's a place where care and generosity are woven into the culture, and where service and scholarship extend beyond the campus,” said Amanda Davis (MPA ’07), UMKC chief advancement officer and president of the UMKC Foundation. “Blue & Bold demonstrates what is possible when philanthropy combines with a deep commitment to vision and hard work.”
Blue & Bold will invest a minimum of $250 million in the infrastructure of UMKC campuses, building and renovating to ensure the university’s talented students and faculty have access to facilities that spark brilliance and change. Examples include the Healthcare Delivery and Innovation Building on the Health Sciences Campus, which is set to be completed in 2026. This funding also will go to the expansion of the Olson Performing Arts Center and a newly renovated Atterbury Welcome Center, both in the heart of the Volker Campus.
The campaign will also ensure the future by adding a further $100 million to UMKC’s endowments, providing an average of $50 million in annual support to students, faculty and programs in all areas across the university.
Blue & Bold is supported by a volunteer campaign committee co-chaired by Nelson Sabates (B.A. ’83/M.D. ’86), who has served as professor and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology for more than 20 years at UMKC and University Health, and his wife, Rachael Sabates.
The couple and their children are also UMKC donors. In 2024, the family pledged a multimillion-dollar contribution, the largest alumni donation the UMKC School of Medicine has received, to the university’s largest capital project to date: the five-story, 160,000-square-foot Healthcare Delivery and Innovation Building in the UMKC Health Sciences District.
“The Blue & Bold Campaign is about believing in what’s possible—for our students, our community and our future,” Nelson Sabates said. “Together, we’re building a university that will continue to change lives for generations.”
Bob Regnier, chair of the UMKC Foundation Board, co-chaired the last UMKC fundraising campaign more than a decade ago.
“UMKC supporters have always stepped forward with remarkable generosity and vision,” Regnier said. “Their belief in our Carnegie Research 1 university has created tremendous momentum—and we’re just getting started.”
Key State of the University Highlights
- An Institute for Advanced Materials and Applications: Critical Materials Crossroads, led by UMKC, will be at the institute's center, and was selected by the National Science Foundation Regional Engines Innovation program as one of 15 finalists out of 285 universities competing for a 10-year, $160 million grant. The project could generate $17 billion in economic impact and create more than 10,000 jobs in the Kansas City region by establishing a U.S.-based refining and research hub for essential materials like nickel and cobalt.
- New degree programs, including AI: This coming year, UMKC is seeking approval to add bachelor's and master's degrees in AI. A three-year bachelor's degree is under consideration for select disciplines.
- Transformative projects on campus: KC Streetcar will arrive at UMKC's front door with its new stop opening on Oct. 24. In addition, three major capital projects will reshape the university's physical footprint and student experience: Healthcare Delivery and Innovation Building, Olson Performing Arts Center and Atterbury Welcome Center.
Attachments
Stacy Downs UMKC 8162351441 downs@umkc.edu
