Ralph and Trish Nagel have long been known for their philanthropy at DU and throughout Denver. In March, they were recognized for their many contributions to the University with the Founders Medal — the University’s highest honor.
No one knows the power of the couple’s generosity more than Denver lawyer Edgar Barraza.
The University of Denver kicks off its 153rd Founders Celebration on Wednesday, March 1 and concludes with the Founders Gala on Thursday, March 2. The celebration — whose theme this year is Finding our Founders — will include faculty forums and panels, community festivities featuring Lamont School of Music alumni band The Wash Park Band, and the annual gala, which this year will honor DU alumna Condoleezza Rice and generous DU supporters Ralph and Trish Nagel.
Ralph J. and Trish M. Nagel will be awarded the Founders Medal – the University’s highest honor – presented to those whose transformative leadership and engaged philanthropy represent the pinnacle of the University’s values.
$5 million gift establishes endowed deanship in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts
The word design is derived from the Latin designare, meaning to choose or to appoint. It suggests not only creation, but also a particular way of engaging the world. An artwork, a building, a process, a relationship — all can be the result of careful, considered design.
Over the last 10 years, Carmon Colangelo has shepherded the formation and growth of Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. On Nov. 18, Colangelo was installed as the inaugural Ralph J. Nagel Dean of the Sam Fox School.
Ralph and Trish Nagel can spot opportunity even if it’s buried under sod and trampled by short-cutting pedestrians.
Witness the School of Art and Art History’s new Nagel Art Studios, an annex made possible by a $2.3 million gift from the couple. Clad in limestone and copper, the structure rises from a small plot of land once covered by grass and overlooked by students on their way to the Coors Fitness Center.
Nagel Hall, a new $40 million residence hall, officially opens at the University of Denver on Thursday.
The residential building includes 356 beds in furnished apartments, each of which includes a kitchen, living room and four bedrooms.
Vision: That every child has equal access to a quality education.
Mission: To provide children of lower-income families with scholarships to private schools in grades K-12, and to advocate for expanded school choice.
ACE Founders
ACE Scholarships was founded in 2000 by Alex Cranberg, Charlie Gallagher, Ralph Nagel, John Saeman and the late Ed McVaney and John Walton to provide low-income parents with the freedom to choose the K-12 schools that are best for their children.