The University of Illinois and the U of I Foundation enjoyed another excellent year in private gifts received for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2011. The University and UIF raised $216.6 millionthe third highest gift total ever, according to Walter Knorr, U of I chief financial officer and treasurer of the U of I Foundation. FY11 was the fourth consecutive yearand only the fifth year everthat the University and Foundation eclipsed the $200 million mark in gifts received.

Shahid Khan, president of Flex-N-Gate Corporation in Urbana, Illinois, and his wife Ann Carlson Khan, have continued their generous support of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by making a gift of $10 million to fund the new north addition of Huff Hall. The addition, known as the Khan Annex, houses programs of the College of Applied Health Sciences, including the Center on Health, Aging, and Disability and the Master of Public Health program. The Khan Annex will be formally dedicated at an event on Thursday, September 22, at 3:00 p.m. on the northwest side of Huff Hall.

Phyllis M. Wise, Ph.D., has been selected to become a Vice President of the University of Illinois and the Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, effective Oct. 1, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees at its September meeting.

University of Illinois President Michael J. Hogan on Thursday launched a $100 million fundraising campaign that will increase financial aid to help students and their families offset tuition costs that have risen sharply as state funding for the University has declined over the last decade.

Zachary Grotovsky, a 23-year-old senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is a student caller for the University of Illinois Foundation. He recently wrapped up a wildly successful fall semester, prompting the Foundations calling center to rename its top fundraiser award the Zachary Grotovsky Excellence Award.