Gifts to the Baylor Oral Health Foundation can provide for many different opportunities at the Baylor College of Dentistry. 

Unrestricted.  Gifts without restrictions enable the College through the Foundation to take advantage of unexpected opportunities and to support projects and ideas not necessarily eligible for State funds.  Unrestricted gifts may also support smaller projects that are innovative and worthy, but unlikely to attract contributions from other foundations or major donors.  The use of unrestricted gifts is under the direction of the Board of Directors of the Foundation and the administration of the College.

Restricted.  Donors may also want to address specific issues such as a current campaign, gifts for a specific department, or specific program.  When the Foundation accepts gifts under restricted terms, the donor’s wishes will be followed as to the use of the contributed resources.  Presently, in addition to endowments and quasi-endowments, the Foundation manages funds for the Center for Maxillofacial Prosthodontics, the Baylor Orthodontic Support Fund, the Baylor College of Dentistry Alumni Association, the Baylor Graduate Endodontic Educational Fund, the Baylor College of Dentistry Pediatric Dentistry Support Fund, the Baylor Periodontics Alumni, the Baylor College of Dentistry Graduate Prosthodontics Fund and the Jesse T. Bullard Lectureship, the Tom Matthews Lectureship, the Merritt Lecture, and the Kimberly Campbell Orthodontic Research Fund.

Endowed Chairs.   Faculty are a most important component to any academic environment.  Endowments enable the College to compete for the best clinicians and researchers available on a national basis.  This type of gift is a strategic way to build strength and quality into academic programs. Currently the Foundation manages The Robert E. Gaylord Endowed Chair in Orthodontics and the Whiteaker-Hurt Endowed Chair in Periodontics.

Endowed Professorships.  These provide a competitive advantage in recruiting and retaining outstanding clinicians and researchers at a level below the department chair.  As a consequence, they require a lower level of annual income and may be endowed for a smaller fixed amount.

Named Scholarship Funds.  Scholarship accounts can be established using endowed or current funds. Named scholarship endowments require a minimum of $100,000 to yield adequate interest income to support a scholarship.  Scholarship assistance is a re-occurring need for the College and endowments provide a perpetual and reliable source for meeting those needs.  The $100,000 minimum can be achieved by multiple gifts given over a five-year period. At present the Foundation manages the Betty J. Scott Scholarship Program, the Herman Pinckney Orts and Mildred Burton Orts Endowed Scholarship,

the Patricia Clendenin Wessendorff Caruth School Fund, and the Robert S. Staffanou Scholarship Fund.

Department and Program Endowments.  These endowments provide additional annual income that departments can direct towards their areas of greatest need and opportunity.  At the present, the Foundation manages the Periodontal Resident Endowment Fund.