For more than 65 years, the Carpenter Foundation has supported organizations throughout the Rogue Valley. SOU has been the beneficiary of the foundation’s generosity for most of those 65 years.

The foundation’s history is rooted in both family and agriculture, with the initial funds coming primarily from Helen Carpenter. Helen’s father, Willard Bundy, cofounded The Bundy Time Recording Company, which developed the time clock and later became part of IBM. Helen and her husband, Alfred, were well-respected in the local community and invested their time and money into important community initiatives.

Now in its fourth generation, the foundation continues the legacy that Helen and Alfred Carpenter started. Family members Emily Carpenter Mostue, Karen Carpenter Allan, and Ali Mostue continue the important work. Emily, president of the foundation’s board, explained,

“Our work at the Carpenter Foundation is more than just philanthropy—it’s a family legacy. It’s carrying on what Alfred and Helen started, and what our parents continued for 30 years. It’s a profound responsibility to honor that history while also embracing new ideas to ensure our foundation thrives for generations.”

Since the beginning, the Carpenter Foundation has supported SOU by providing grants to ensure that faculty can enrich their teaching and service. Since making its first gift to SOU in 1959, the foundation continues to recognize SOU’s value as a vital institution for the community.

According to Karen, the foundation board saw an opportunity to enrich the university by helping faculty connect with the wider world. “We’ve wanted to help faculty reach out into other parts of the world in their fields and bring that back to the students,” she said.

A diverse range of faculty, from communication and theater to history and environmental science, have used Carpenter Foundation grants to present original work at conferences, attend professional development seminars, or to take courses to complete their graduate degrees. A key component of the grant management at SOU is that faculty choose how they wish to use the funds they have been awarded. This approach allows faculty to pursue opportunities that have the greatest impact on their teaching and research. Ali said,

“I am proud to be a part of the foundation and witness its unique perspective into our local community’s fabric and the compassionate safety net it helps provide. The foundation has a strong legacy of supporting higher education that benefits students and our community.”

Helen and Alfred’s impact isn’t about a single gift—it is about a vision to build a stronger community. Today, the Carpenter Foundation carries that vision forward, investing in the heart of SOU’s academic mission. It has created a butterfly effect that extends far beyond SOU’s campus and meets the foundation’s vision of enriching the lives of students and building a strong community in southern Oregon