CASPER, Wyo. — On Thursday, the University of Wyoming announced that an anonymous donor is providing a $1 million gift to UW’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources.
The anonymous donation was given to honor John Koprowski, dean of the Haub School, who has been selected to receive the Aldo Leopold Memorial Award this November, UW said. The $1 million donation also aims to encourage future UW scholars to pursue careers in international wildlife conservation.
The money will be used to establish the International Wildlife Conservation Chair at UW that will be renamed the John L. Koprowski International Wildlife Conservation Chair after Koprowski retires, UW said. The funding will be used to recruit and retain Haub School faculty members with expertise in international wildlife conservation.
“I am humbled to be honored by this legacy gift from a friend of the Haub School that has guaranteed, in perpetuity, a role for UW faculty to expand our impact on global conservation issues,” Koprowski said in UW’s announcement. “Such a generous gift not only celebrates our tradition of excellence in wildlife research at the University of Wyoming but further creates opportunity for the Haub School and UW to be viewed as leaders in biodiversity management and ecological connectivity for decades to come.”
The $1 million anonymous donation also prompted a legacy match of $10,000 which will be used to directly support current Haub School programs, UW said.
“These are additional funds — created by the UW Foundation Board and a private gift — that are immediately made available when a donor documents a planned gift,” UW said.
The anonymous gift was structured to encourage other donors to consider honoring Koprowski’s accomplishments, UW said.
“While this gift will be funded in the future, a series of current gifts to the Haub School recently have been made,” UW said. “These directed gifts are to the John Koprowski Excellence Fund, the John Koprowski Research Fellowship Fund, the John Koprowski Mongolia Research Fellowship Fund and the Graduate Research Scholarship in Sustainable Landscapes and Livelihoods.”
Koprowski was named a Fellow of The Wildlife Society in 2014 and the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2018, UW added. In 2019, he was selected as a member of the Linnean Society of London.
