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Few individuals better understand the value of scholarship support than current �鶹�� Board member and Chair Emerita (2018-2022), Denise O’Leary. She and her husband, Kent Thiry, recently donated $1 million to establish the Thiry O’Leary Family Scholarship Fund at DU to support undergraduate students who have demonstrated high academic achievement and significant financial need, with a preference for first-generation students. The non-endowed fund ensures that qualified Chancellor and Provost scholarship recipients can meet their full demonstrated financial need, up to the full cost of attendance.��

As the only child of two first-generation college students from Long Island, Denise’s parents always stressed the difference that education had made in their lives. Her father joined the US Navy after finishing college. Despite attending 12 different K-12 schools in 12 years, Denise excelled academically, graduating from Stanford’s rigorous Industrial Engineering program, followed by a Harvard MBA. She went on to build a stellar venture capital career at Menlo Ventures, where she rose to become a General Partner.����

The knowledge and perspective Denise gained from her venture capital career, with her exposure to new technologies, multiple sectors and a gamut of operational issues, made her a highly sought-after corporate board member. Equally in demand on the non-profit side, Denise not only has served on DU’s Board since 2013, but is also a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution and former Trustee at Stanford, Board Chair at Stanford Hospital and Clinics, and a board member at The Denver Foundation and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford.��

Growing up without wealth or privilege, Denise appreciates the benefits higher education can provide to first-generation students if given the opportunity. “You have to believe – as I do firmly – that for many kids, especially first-gen students, higher education is the great engine of social mobility. By investing in immediate-use scholarships, we can make it possible for more deserving students to benefit from that opportunity when it most matters.”��

Denise emphasizes the life-changing impact of scholarships, particularly for first-generation students. “Scholarships are a game-changer,” she explains. “When we lose those kids because of affordability, it’s a dagger in my heart. So for me, immediate-use scholarships that provide funding for students today, have become a major philanthropic focus for our family.”�� ��

When Denise and Kent relocated from California to Colorado in 2013, they made a decision to fully invest themselves in public engagement and philanthropy. Fortunately, that impact included Denise’s involvement on the DU Board and her tenure as Board Chair, an experience that exposed Denise to DU’s many strengths, such as the 4D Experience. She views this innovative approach as the future of all American higher education.��

“Denise O’Leary’s commitment to providing opportunities to DU students through scholarships is making a remarkable difference,” says Chancellor Jeremy Haefner. “Through her leadership on the Board of Trustees and her philanthropy, she is helping open doors so DU students can pursue their academic ambitions.” ��

To achieve a career like Denise O’Leary’s requires inherent talent and a strong work ethic, which she attributes to her family’s values, which also included a deep commitment to giving back. This commitment continues to drive Denise and Kent’s philanthropic efforts today, including their recent gift for immediate-use scholarships.����

The Thiry O’Leary gift is already making a significant impact at DU. By meeting the financial needs of early admission students last fall, the fund enabled many more of them to choose to attend DU. These scholarships are opening doors for high-achieving students with financial need, helping them pursue their dreams.��

Immediate-use scholarships differ from endowed scholarships, which involve investing significant funds for long-term use, with the interest supporting scholarships, faculty, operations or other needs. While endowed funding secures DU’s long-term sustainability, immediate-use funding provides critical support for talented and deserving students today. For Denise, this means “making the case to other donors that immediate-use scholarships – and scholarship support more generally – really move the needle.”��

Denise O’Leary has clearly moved the needle throughout her own extraordinary career in business, technology, public service and philanthropy. Now she’s leveraging her success to create immediate opportunities for a new generation of first-generation DU students.��

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