A Jumpstart from a Longtime Supporter
Alumnus Tinkham Veale II's $20-million gift energizes fundraising for new university center

When Tinkham Veale II (CIT '37) graduated college, America was in the midst of the country's worst economic disaster of all time. He was married just as the country became involved in World War II. And he started his business, Alco Standard Corporation, as citizens of all backgrounds fought for equality.

Yet, as the world around him changed, one custom became constant in Veale's life: his support of Case Western Reserve University.

"Case Western Reserve played a significant role in my personal and professional life," he says. "I was so honored Case helped me get an education and did things for me."

His annual contributions to the university for the past 73 years and counting have made him something of a poster-child of alumni generosity, and his name graces the university's Veale Convocation, Recreation and Athletic Center and the Veale Natatorium.

This year, with the country engrossed in an economic downtown some say hasn't been seen since the era in which Veale himself was in college, he made a generous $20 million commitment to the future of student life at Case Western Reserve. The contribution—given through the Veale Foundation—has ignited a fundraising campaign to build the Tinkham Veale University Center, a project that has been near the top of President Barbara R. Snyder's agenda since her investiture in 2007.

"This is a project that is literally and figuratively at the heart of our campus," she says. "Tink Veale's generosity will allow us to transform a long-awaited concept into a meaningful reality for our community."

"The Tink," as students have affectionately called the new building, will be located at the corner of East Boulevard and Bellflower Road, near Severance Hall and adjacent to the university's Kelvin Smith Library.

"It is extremely exciting to see this center garner the philanthropic support it deserves," says Duwain Pinder (CWR '10), who was president of Undergraduate Student Government when the announcement was made. "Case Western Reserve brings together some of the most intelligent, creative and diverse students from around the world. We need inspiring places like this to interact in order to learn and grow from each other."

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