CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — DePaul University alumnus George L. Ruff and his wife, Tanya S. Ruff, are giving back.
The couple has made estate and monetary gifts to the university totaling $21 million to support scholarships and DePaul’s Institute of Global Homelessness. In recognition of the gift, the institute will be now be renamed the George and Tanya Ruff Institute of Global Homelessness.
“George and Tanya Ruff are extremely generous individuals who are devoted to our university and the Vincentian mission we all hold dear,” said DePaul President A. Gabriel Esteban, Ph.D. “On behalf of DePaul, I am extremely grateful to George and Tanya for their transformational gift. It will benefit our students and the larger community for many decades to come.”
A 1974 graduate of DePaul’s Driehaus College of Business, Mr. Ruff is senior principal of Trinity Hotel Investors LLC and a member of DePaul’s School of Hospitality Leadership Advisory Board and Philanthropy Committee. He helped establish the Real Estate Center in the Richard H. Driehaus College of Business. The Ruffs have also contributed to the College of Business through the George L. Ruff Endowed Scholarship in Hospitality Leadership, the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center Endowment and the George L. Ruff Endowed Chair in Real Estate.
Mrs. Ruff has been an important partner in this work and a dedicated advocate for DePaul. The couple has honored DePaul’s Vincentian mission by contributing to the Holtschneider Chair in Vincentian Studies, representing DePaul overseas, and participating in numerous campus activities in support of students.
The George L. and Tanya S. Ruff Endowed Scholarship that will be created with this new gift is designed to benefit low-income students, students of color, first-generation college students and current members or veterans of the United States armed services. The Ruffs have made part of the scholarship funds available immediately to support Now We Must: The Campaign for DePaul’s Students, an ambitious fundraising initiative that aims to help students through the hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Ruff serves on the Now We Must campaign committee.
To encourage others to help students, the Ruffs have issued the “Double Your Impact” Ruff Scholarship Challenge, which runs March 1 through Dec. 31, 2021. During this time, the Ruffs will match any gift of $50,000 or more, up to $750,000, to create a new endowed scholarship for low-income students, students of color, first-generation students or active military and veteran students.
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