Anonymous gift to UW aims to create opportunities for careers in wildlife conservation

No, not a classroom or desk chair. Not even an armchair. An anonymous $1 million gift will establish the International Wildlife Conservation Chair, which supports Haub School Dean John Koprowski, UW announced in a press release on Sept. 15.

The purpose of the gift is to “inspire and create opportunities for future UW scholars in their pursuit of careers in international wildlife conservation.”

The endowed chair is to celebrate Koprowski’s efforts and achievements in the international conservation scene.

“Following his retirement, the chair will be renamed as the John L. Koprowski International Wildlife Conservation Chair,” the press release states.

The dean already has a slew of funds named after him in the Haub School — the John Koprowski Excellence Fund, the John Koprowski Research Fellowship Fund and the John Koprowski Mongolia Research Fellowship Fund are ones the release specifically mentions.

Those funds are the recipients of several current monetary gifts.

The Haub School itself is also the recipient of an immediate gift prompted by a legacy match, which is when additional funds are “immediately made available” after a donor documents a planned gift. Ten thousand dollars will go towards the current programs of the school.

The press release notes that the whole structure of the planned gift was to encourage more gifts to be made to honor Koprowski’s accomplishments.

Indeed, the list of accomplishments is long and considerable.

Koprowski has written “more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and books and has worked with more than 50 graduate students to provide data-informed solutions to worldwide conservation challenges.” He was previously employed at the University of Arizona, but also spent time abroad, working with international conservators and teaching courses in places such as Ecuador, Mongolia, China and Italy. The list of places at which he has worked on research projects includes Colombia, India, Mexico, Nepal and South Africa, as well as the U.S.

According to the press release, the planned gift will help “recruit and retain” faculty for the Haub School “who have expertise in wildlife conservation.”