Wits Fund Celebrates 90th Anniversary of The University of Witwatersrand

- Gala dinner celebrating the extraordinary contributions of University of Witwatersrand alumni to society chaired by Henry Schein Chairman and CEO, Stanley Bergman

NEW YORK, June 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Witwatersrand Fund, Inc. (Wits Fund) recently celebrated The University of Witwatersrand's 90th anniversary at an Awards Dinner held at the University Club in New York, N.Y.  The Wits Fund is a non-profit organization created and supported by a small group of alumni volunteers dedicated to supporting programs and scholarships of the University of Witwatersrand. 

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120615/NY25667 )

The Wits Fund Awards Dinner honored Wits distinguished Principal and Vice Chancellor Professor Loyiso Nongxa for his inspired and enlightened leadership as well as four Wits Alumni in the United States – John Chalsty, Chairman of Muirfield Capital Management; Chief Justice Margaret M. Marshall, retired Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court; Denise Scott Brown, renowned architect, planner, author and educator; and David Schneider, former Senior Consultant to the Chairman of the Coca Cola Company.  Dr. Calvin O. Butts, President of the State University of New York College at Old Westbury and Pastor of the nationally renowned Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York, provided the invocation for the event, and Jennifer Roth, Senior Vice President at Sotheby's, served as the Mistress of Ceremonies.

Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Henry Schein Inc., the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, medical and animal health practitioners, served as Dinner Chair and serves as the Chairman of the Wits Fund.

The University of Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, South Africa, is one of only two universities in Africa ranked in two separate international rankings as a leading institution in the world and is the only university in the country that features in the top one percent in the world in seven defined fields of research according to the 2007 ISI international rankings.

About University of Witwatersrand Fund, Inc. (Wits Fund)

Over thirty years ago we realized the future of our university would rest, not with the State, but with the people it serves – its alumni, staff, leaders of commerce and industry and those in professional practice.

As a result, the Wits Foundation was established in 1978 as a Public Benefit Organisation to collect and administer donations for the benefit of the University.  A Board of Governors and Trustees, appointed by the University Council, manages the Wits Foundation.

All donations are exempt from donations tax and are tax deductible in terms of Section 30 of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 as amended from time to time.

In 2006, the fundraising aspect of the Wits Foundation separated to form the Development &  Fundraising Office (DFO).

With only one goal in mind – that of maintaining the standards of academic excellence for which the University has become famous – the DFO assists in seeking donations and sponsorships for the development of research projects, funding of scholarships, bursaries and supplementation of staff remuneration, and for infrastructure development, refurbishment and equipment.