About the Fraser Lecture Series

The Fraser Endowment for Equipment for the Sciences is one of six endowments generously established by a gift from the estate of Gordon H. and Alice C. Fraser. As the endowment agreement describes, “The sciences have a constant need for specialized equipment or literature to maintain their training and support programs beyond that which would be provided from the State. The Trustors desire that endowment distributions be used for this purpose.” The following describes how endowment revenue will be allocated for equipment and literature. 

The endowment will be overseen by the Vice Provost for Research whose office will track expenditures and manage the distribution of funds. Seventy-five percent of the available fund balance as of July 1, 2020, along with seventy-five percent of annual revenue thereafter will be used for scientific equipment, and twenty-five percent will be used for literature. The use of endowment funds for literature will be overseen by the Dean of Libraries. The use of endowment funds for scientific equipment will be determined by the Vice Provost for Research in consultation with the Research and Creative Activities Council.

Endowment funds for equipment will be used to support multi-user capital instrumentation. Such equipment is typically housed in a University-wide facility, makes significant contributions to research or teaching in multiple departments and colleges, and has a high acquisition cost. Closely related instrumentation essential for supporting capital equipment, such as that used for sample preparation and site preparation costs may also be considered for support. Scientific computing infrastructure is also scientific equipment. The endowment is not expected to fund ongoing operational, staffing, or maintenance costs. Because planning for capital equipment often requires several years, allocation of endowment funds will be managed with a comparably long planning horizon. Priority will be given to opportunities leveraging Federal, State, or private funds.

Western Libraries will use Fraser endowment funds to provide open access to the scholarship produced by Western faculty, staff, and students and to acquire licensed journals and databases in a wide range of STEM fields. 

If you want to apply for the Fraser Lecture Series, click here.