SAIC received a $1 million gift from Sam and Ann Mencoff to establish the Mencoff Family Fellowship in Historic Preservation, providing merit-based fellowships to SAIC graduate students in the Department of Historic Preservation.

In addition to serving as a Trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago, Sam is a prominent business leader in Chicago and a director of several organizations spanning the arts and culture, education, and public health. He is also Chancellor (Chairman of the Board) of Brown University. “The Mencoffs are committed advocates of historic preservation, and their support of this discipline at SAIC will have a transformative impact on our students,” said President Walter Massey. “We are incredibly thankful to them for their generosity.”

“Ann and I are both so pleased to support SAIC’s artistic legacy and its commitment to providing world-class art and design education,” said Sam Mencoff. “Under Dr. Massey’s leadership, the school carried on its tradition of innovation while educating some of the best art and design professionals and scholars in the world. We confidently look forward to how our gift will make a meaningful impact under Elissa Tenny’s presidency.”