The Cosmos Club Foundation’s three hallmark efforts continue to thrive thanks to the most welcome and important generosity of Club members and friends. The Trustees and Advisors once again are profoundly grateful to the McGovern Foundation, Joan Challinor, and to Jeanne Rosenthal for their continuing and exceptional gifts to the Foundation.
The McGovern Award program is thriving. Over 200 people attended the stimulating talk by Karl Deisseroth of Stanford University, whose pathbreaking work in optogenetics he explained with clarity and humor.
The Cosmos Club Award, funded by the Foundation, was presented to Lonnie Bunch, the founding Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Director Bunch’s talk enthralled a sold-out audience in the Warne Ballroom. Interestingly, he commented that he wouldn’t hold the position were it not for the long-ago sponsorship of Joan Challinor, one of the Foundation’s trustees.
The Cosmos Scholars program flourished once again under the sterling leadership of Trustees Pete Toulmin, Jean Federico, Ann Sheffield, and Joan Challinor. The 211 applications for grants in aid were markedly superior again this year. For this reason, and thanks to the generosity of our donors, we were able to make 25 grants. Since its inception the program has supported 402 graduate students and allocated $762,370 to their research efforts.
The Scholars reception was well attended by more than 100 Club members and guests, current and former Cosmos Scholars, faculty mentors and university officials. Students presented the results of their research in a less formal but highly successful event which replaced the annual dinner.
The Foundation’s financial position is fully shown on the IRS form 990 for calendar year 2016, a public document. Total expenses ($105,133) exceeded investment income ($64,363), so contributions continue to be an important and greatly appreciated element of our operating budget. As the form 990 shows that only 3% of the expenditure went to general expenses such as accounting, banking, and insurance, donors can be confident that their contributions are supporting our programs.