2021 ANNUAL REPORT

A Great Fit of Need and Opportunity

Largest-Ever UVA EHD Programmatic Gift Supports Kinesiology

Thanks to a New England family with new ties to UVA, undergraduate Kinesiology students will enjoy singular opportunities to participate in innovative research.

When Amy Warner and Steve Kosowsky brought their daughter Grace to tour Grounds a couple of years ago, UVA was unfamiliar territory. Amy went to Dartmouth and earned graduate law degrees in Boston. Steven went to MIT and holds an MBA from Harvard.

They were initially impressed with the small, student-centered community of our Kinesiology program within the larger university, and UVA became Grace’s top choice. The more they learned about our Department of Kinesiology, the more they liked. Now Grace is a second-year, and her parents have already pledged the largest gift ever to an academic program within the School.

 “Even before the Kinesiology program moved into their new facility, they had topnotch, world-class faculty doing cutting edge research,” Amy explained. “We really value the opportunities for experiential learning when undergraduates can be in labs working with professors. It’s a good educational model.”

Amy and Steve have directed 60 percent of their $1 million commitment to an endowed undergraduate research fund. This support allows Kinesiology students to co-author research publications with expert faculty members in areas such as childhood obesity, diabetic nutrition, and concussions. It will also provide opportunities to present their findings at conferences.

Another 30 percent of their gift will be divided equally among three expendable accounts supporting Kinesiology research: the Diet and Nutrition Lab, the Exercise and Sport Injury Lab for concussion research, and the Applied Metabolism and Physiology Lab for diabetes research. An additional $100,000 will kick start the Kinesiology Department Faculty Excellence Fund, which aims to catalyze new research with seed funding.

“Altogether, this gift provides tremendous opportunities to advance research activity in the Department of Kinesiology,” said Jay Hertel, department chair and Joe H. Gieck Professor of Sports Medicine.

Despite the family tradition for New England schools, Grace was attracted to Virginia’s warmer winters, which enable her to run year-round (she is an avid member of UVA’s Club Running). Now, the whole family has fallen in love with Charlottesville and the university – from President Ryan’s leadership to Grace’s first-year match with a kinesiology faculty advisor. Amy and Steve quickly connected with the UVA Parent Fund, which helped them feel more involved.

“Everyone has been welcoming at UVA, and you get a sense of safety and trust there,” said Steve, who is president of Design Housing, a real estate development firm in Needham. “You want to give to places where you think they’re doing the right thing.”

Amy and Steve both believe that “if you have the ability to give, you have the responsibility to give,” and that higher education is a place where philanthropy is well spent. “We hope our philanthropy encourages others to join with us,” said Amy, who is a partner in the law firm Abendroth, Berns & Warner, LLC, and specializes in commercial banking, banking regulation, and real estate transactions.

They also know that in a small department like Kinesiology, their dollars make a larger impact. Of course, supporting their daughter’s interests made their giving decision a “great fit of need and opportunity,” according to Steve.

“Grace is thriving,” Amy said. “Nothing makes a parent feel better than that.”