Three $1 Million Gifts Launch Public Phase of UNH Campaign

The campaign, The Charger Challenge, announced last month, has a goal of raising $100 million in time for the university's centennial in 2020. The campaign had raised $49 million during its quiet phase. 

Two of the gifts, from Philip H. and Susan Bartels and from Charles E. Pompea '71, '90 EMBA and his wife, Tamera, will support the university's proposed $35 million Innovation Center. The center will provide students and faculty with a collaborative learning space and a cutting-edge maker space for interdisciplinary special projects. 

The third gift, from William Bucknall '63 A.S., '65 and his two daughters, Kristin Loranger and Elise Bucknall, through their family foundation, will endow the Bucknall Family Scholarship for students in science, technology, engineering or math. 

"The transformational displays of generosity that have taken place over the last several weeks illustrate how strongly these individuals - and many others like them - are committed to what is taking place at UNH," said President Steven H. Kaplan. "Most importantly, they believe, like I do, in the tremendous potential of our students. I know firsthand that their belief is well-placed and that their investment will pay significant dividends for generations to come." 

Philip Bartels, an attorney with Shipman & Goodwin, one of Connecticut's largest law firms, is chair of the UNH Board of Governors. He and his family have been generous donors to UNH, supporting, among other projects, the Bartels Student Center. 

Charles Pompea, a former vice chair of the UNH Board of Governors, spent two decades advancing up the ladder at Primary Steel, a company he eventually purchased in 1993 and oversaw for 15 years. A Florida resident, he is the majority owner of the Springfield Falcons hockey team. 

Pompea and his wife also have supported a number of UNH projects including the Bergami and Pompea Graduate Center, the campus in Orange acquired by UNH two years ago. 

Bucknall, who rose through the ranks at United Technologies Corporation to senior vice president, became one of the top human resource professionals in the nation before his retirement in 2008. His generosity has supported the Bucknall Theater in Dodds Hall, among other projects. 

About the University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a private, top-tier comprehensive institution recognized as a national leader in experiential education. Founded in 1920, the university enrolls approximately 1,800 graduate students and more than 4,600 undergraduates.