Skip to main content

IREF fundraising campaign gains momentum

In March 1991, the International Road Educational Foundation (IREF), through the leadership of Dana Low, John Gehrett and Marion Dietrich, among others, established the Future Fund, an endowment-style funding mechanism to support scholarship awards for IRF Fellows.
February 28, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
2011 IREF Fellows visit the US FHWA Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center

In March 1991, the International Road Educational Foundation (IREF), through the leadership of Dana Low, John Gehrett and Marion Dietrich, among others, established the Future Fund, an endowment-style funding mechanism to support scholarship awards for IRF Fellows.

The endowment built over the last twenty years has been instrumental in supporting the Foundation’s core mission of providing academic training to university graduates in fields related to the development of better and safer roads worldwide. Many of the program’s 1,250+ Fellows have risen to become senior government officials as well as leaders in the private sector and in academia, where they are in a position to exercise a multiplier effect in the transfer of technology and information.

The Foundation received a new accolade this month from the Organisation of American States with which it will be partnering to advance opportunities for Latin American and Caribbean professionals to make a difference in their profession.

In order to preserve the Foundation’s important legacy and maintain current levels of annual scholarship awards, the IREF Board of Directors have launched a fundraising campaign to raise US$1 million by December 31, 2012.Since the 20th Anniversary of the Future Fund Campaign kicked-off in June 2011,

US$342,700 has been raised through contributions made by 2462 IRF member organisations, IRF and IREF Board members, IRF Fellow alumni, and individuals.

The Foundation’s short-term goal is to raise US$400,000 by the end of 2011. A contribution from you and/or your organisation will make a difference… and no amount is too small or too large.

Roll Call of Contributors

(at October 31, 2011)

3295 Abdul Ali Al-Ajmi Company
1397 AECOM
3293 AgileAssets, Inc.
Ahmad Al Binali & Son’s Co.
Amin Aknoukh
Brian and Pauline Harris
Cesar Cibils
Charoen Choeyphaung
1497 Concesionaria IIRSA Norte
Concesionaria Interoceanica Sur Tramo 2, S.A.
Concesionaria Interoceanica Sur Tramo 3, S.A.
Frederick Debidin
Helmut Echterhoff-Hammerschmid
Herbert Koestenberger
Ipek Sener
2463 Japan Road Association
Jorge Erdmenger
Justice Appiah
3291 Kercher Engineering
Leonardo Bitran
Manwa Company
Mario Leiderman
Norma and Wendell Reed Foundation
Rawafid Al-Torok Contracting Est.
3290 Resource International, Inc.
Robert Jaffe
Ronald Faller
Saleh Abelgader
Salvador Reyes
Trinity Industries, Inc.
3221 Wilbur Smith Associates
Zaher Yousif
Zhong Wang

Related Content

  • US increased transportation budget proposals
    July 12, 2012
    IRF's Washington Programme Centre provides an update on some latest developments in the 2010 Budget plan There has been further recent action from both Congress and the White House on budget plans that will guide the Transportation Reauthorization Bill for the next six years. On 7 May, President Obama proposed large increases for rail and highways in his 2010 Budget plan, including the largest amount of funding that any President has sought for Amtrak, or for the development of high-speed rail in the United
  • The IRF is showcasing achievement with its awards
    August 18, 2015
    Winners of the 2015 Global Road Achievement Awards Announced This year the IRF honoured 12 projects from around the world, each leading the way in innovation across major road and highway disciplines. The selection was made by an international panel of senior road development specialists. "Much of the transport sector's accomplishments are unnoticed by the hundreds of millions of people who benefit so greatly from the availability of safe, smart and interconnected road networks," said IRF chairman Abd
  • Need for defined work zone safety regulations
    February 13, 2012
    Christophe Nicodème, ERF's Director General, explores a missing link in the road safety chain
  • The road factor in economic transformation
    April 26, 2012
    The organisers of the 14th Road Engineering Association of Asia and Australia (REAAA) being held from 26-28 March, 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, have issued a call for papers from local and international authors, with a deadline for abstracts of 1 June, 2012. The theme of the event (www.14reaaaconf2013.com) is “The road factor in economic transformation” and as the organisers point out, roads are the arteries of a nation facilitating the transportation of the required synergy for economic transformation.