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Delaware State University Foundation
The Delaware State University Foundation was established as a separate 501(c)(3) corporation to secure and administer private gifts supporting Delaware State...
Delaware State University Foundation
The Delaware State University Foundation was established as a separate 501(c)(3) corporation to secure and administer private gifts supporting Delaware State University, the state's only historically Black institution and an 1890 land-grant university. President Henry W. Taylor oversees the foundation alongside a board chaired by Dr. Enid Wallace-Haley, drawing volunteer leadership from financial services, technology, and philanthropy. The foundation manages a permanent endowment pool alongside a collection of legacy gifts, working-capital assets, and restricted-use contributed property. The foundation oversees a portfolio that mixes traditional endowment investment-pool assets with real property holdings, including university-owned farmland in Smyrna and Kenton, Delaware; the DSU Wilmington Riverfront asset, a commercial property; the Hope House mixed-use property in Dover; and the former Wesley College campus now operated as DSU Downtown. Its most distinctive holdings are in aviation training infrastructure: the foundation stewards a Vulcanair V1.0 fleet and a Piper Aircraft fleet, both deployed in the university's professional pilot program under formal workforce-development partnerships with Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. Grant co-investors supporting STEM programming include the Agilent Technologies Foundation ($1,043,585 for diversity in STEM) and the Longwood Foundation ($1,750,000 for university initiatives). Team scale is not publicly disclosed, though the foundation functions as an affiliated entity drawing on university advancement-staff resources. The board includes Nicole Dye-Anderson (SVP at Wells Fargo), Thomas Horne (Market Executive at JPMorgan Chase), and Kathleen Shelton (CTO at FMC Corporation). In 2020, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated $20 million to the university, with $12 million directed to the endowment — the largest single gift in the institution's history and a material inflection point for the foundation's investable asset base. The foundation holds membership in the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The foundation departs from a standard higher-education endowment model by managing highly concentrated, illiquid, mission-aligned operating assets — its aviation fleet and real property — alongside its financial-investment pool. This hybrid structure, where workforce-training capital equipment doubles as an institutional balance-sheet asset, is unusual among peer HBCU foundations and creates a durable link between fundraising outcomes and direct university-program delivery.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Dover
Corporate office
Dover, DE, United States
Principals
Henry W. Taylor
President of the DSU Foundation and VP for Institutional Advancement
Dr. Enid Wallace-Haley
Chairwoman of the DSU Foundation Board
Nicole Dye-Anderson
Vice Chairwoman of the DSU Foundation Board
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at the Delaware State University Foundation?
The foundation operates under President Henry W. Taylor, who also serves as the university's Vice President for Institutional Advancement. A volunteer board chaired by Dr. Enid Wallace-Haley provides governance oversight. Day-to-day portfolio-management staffing and any investment-committee structure beyond the board have not been publicly detailed.
How is the foundation related to Delaware State University?
The Delaware State University Foundation is a legally separate 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation formed solely to receive, hold, and administer private contributions for the benefit of Delaware State University. It functions as the university's designated fundraising and gift-stewardship vehicle, with its president holding a simultaneous university-administration role.
Does the foundation hold only financial assets, or does it manage other property?
The foundation stewards a mix of financial investments and direct real property. Known holdings include farmland in Smyrna and Kenton, commercial real estate at the Wilmington Riverfront, the Hope House mixed-use property in Dover, and the former Wesley College campus. It also manages aviation training aircraft — a Vulcanair V1.0 fleet and a Piper Aircraft fleet — used by the university's professional pilot program.
What was the impact of the MacKenzie Scott gift?
Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott gave $20 million to Delaware State University in 2020, with $12 million earmarked explicitly for the endowment. The gift represented the largest single contribution in the university's history and materially increased the foundation's permanent capital pool, though the foundation has not disclosed its total AUM publicly.
How do corporate partnerships factor into the foundation's work?
The foundation supports corporate workforce-development arrangements that deliver revenue and capital equipment to the university. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines maintain formal aviation-program partnerships for pilot training and career pathways, while the Agilent Technologies Foundation and Longwood Foundation have provided direct grants exceeding $1 million each for STEM diversity and university-wide initiatives.
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