Give Light and the Foster Academic Challenge

The generosity of the Baylor Family has dramatically accelerated the University’s research growth and capacity for future expansion. In 2022, Give Light, Baylor’s fundraising campaign, surpassed the $1.1 billion mark in overall giving.

Within Give Light, the Foster Academic Challenge provided new endowed chair positions with significant matching funds to attract top researchers to Baylor. With the successful completion of the Foster Academic Challenge, which saw 14 new endowed research chairs created, the University announced the Illuminate Chair Matching Program. The new matching program aims to build on the success of the Foster Academic Challenge and create new endowed faculty chairs through similar matched gifts to meet faculty needs in priority areas within the University.

In all, more than 20 endowed chairs have been established through the programs, and faculty have been successfully recruited from other leading institutions to bring their research labs, teams and projects to Baylor.