Ken Griffin came to UW in 1970. For more than 30 years, he served UW as a classroom teacher, student adviser, scholar, and administrator. He concluded his career as the dean of the College of Business in 2003. The students he met along the way motivated his philanthropy. Upon their retirement, he and his wife Leah decided to pass on their wealth to worthy charitable causes. UW headed their list.

Recently, Griffin made two gifts toward student success at UW—gifts that were doubled by state matching. The first gift created the Verdell Dodge Memorial Native American Student Enrichment Fund. Griffin met Dodge as an advisee. They were both first-generation students, and Griffin was impressed with Dodge’s hopes, dreams, and potential before Dodge passed away at a young age.

“Verdell touched my heart, mind, and soul, so I decided to give a gift in his name to support Native Americans on campus,” he says. “I hope it will help students see their way through to degree completion and that their educational experiences will better position them—both in pursuing a better life and in transforming society.”

Seeing firsthand the impact a UW education can make—including on his wife and daughters, who earned a total of six UW degrees—inspired him to make a second matching-level gift—this time to support UW’s Cowboy Coaches peer mentoring program.

“UW is the kind of institution that transforms people’s lives,” he says. “It’s the place I initially invested my life. Now, I have an opportunity to invest my remaining financial resources to further the mission.”

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