The flexibility to choose a course of research unencumbered by financial concerns. The freedom to take intellectual risks and explore audacious ideas. The credibility that comes with the support of an influential community. These are the benefits of a Hertz Fellowship—gifts that have shaped the trajectory of more than 1,300 scientists over the past seven decades, resulting in discoveries and innovations that have touched millions of lives.
Now, thanks to two Fellows who are giving back—2019 Hertz Fellow Jordan Chetty and 1970 Hertz Fellow Lee Swanger—Hertz Fellows at every career stage can amplify their impact by making a donation to the Hertz Fund by December 31.
Chetty and Swanger created the Hertz Fund Fall Challenges to encourage gifts of all sizes to the Hertz Fund, an unrestricted fund that supports the Hertz Foundation’s most urgent needs and priorities. The challenges are part of the foundation’s first-ever capital campaign, Make History, launched in August with the goal of raising $40 million to scale and broaden the scope of the foundation’s impact. Thanks to the generosity of the Hertz Community, the Foundation announced in August that it has succeeded in raising $30 million.
Chetty is asking in-school Hertz Fellows and graduates of the past decade—those who received their degrees in 2015 or after—to make gifts of at least $25 and $100, respectively, and he will match with his own donation up to $30,000.
Hertz Fellows’ participation matters, Chetty said.
“The Hertz Foundation has always felt special to me. When I was an in-school fellow, I remember how good it felt that the Hertz team believed in me. Now I’m so impressed by the Hertz community and the Foundation’s efforts to grow and maintain it.”
Gifts from younger fellows also provide leverage, he said. “When you make a donation of $25 or $100, that donation can then be amplified by the Hertz Foundation. I built a pretty simple linear model to figure out how much additional dollar value can be unlocked by just one more Hertz Fellow contributing, and the answer turns out to be pretty high.”
Adele Payman, 2023 Hertz Fellow, joined the Make History Campaign Advisory Group alongside Liyam Chitayat, also a 2023 Hertz Fellow, to represent the in-school perspective in growing a culture of philanthropy within the Hertz Community.
“I donate to the Foundation because I want more young scientists to benefit from the fellowship. I also want to ensure the future of the fellowship for future generations,” she said. “It is up to us to maintain the vibrancy of this community and the impact of our mission going forward. Jordan’s generosity as an early-career fellow exemplifies this spirit. Donating to his challenge is the easiest way for in-school fellows to make an outsized impact and show their appreciation for the work of the foundation.”
The focus of Swanger’s challenge is mid- and senior-career Hertz Fellows who have not yet given to the Hertz Foundation. He will match gifts of $100 to $500 from Hertz Fellows who received their degrees prior to 2015 and are making their first-ever gifts to the foundation.
Every donation matters, Swanger said. “Every gift, regardless of size, presents an opportunity to make the Hertz Foundation more robust, to magnify its impact, and to keep our country’s science and technology pipeline strong. I hope that my gift motivates other fellows to recognize the importance the foundation played in their careers and to pay it forward.”
“I hope that my gift motivates other fellows to recognize the importance the foundation played in their careers and to pay it forward.”
It was Swanger’s generosity over the years that inspired Chetty to initiate the first challenge this fall. Chetty was the first recipient of the Lee A. Swanger Fellowship in Engineering and Applied Science. “When Lee and I first met, I could tell that he cared a great deal about the Foundation. He went from funding one fellow in 2019, which was me, to now three. Watching Lee give back to the foundation, watching his impact grow, has been really gratifying and inspiring.”
Like so many Hertz Fellows, Chetty credits the Hertz Foundation with providing the path to where he is today. “Without the Hertz Fellowship, I wouldn’t have been able to do the research that I did. I wouldn’t have had the world opened up to me in so many ways that has helped me navigate my career,” he said.
“As far as I’m concerned, my money is Hertz’s money, and I’m just taking care of it for now. The foundation has had such a profound impact on my trajectory.”
Click here to make your annual gift to the Hertz Fund and learn more about the impact of the Make History Campaign.
“It is up to us to maintain the vibrancy of this community and the impact of our mission going forward. Jordan’s generosity as an early-career fellow exemplifies this spirit.”
