Gift from Wright State University alumnus to have far reaching effects

Wright State University has received a gift from a three-time alumnus, Doug Hull. Hull’s gift will support student scholarships, establish a collaborative research hub, and give students the ability to pursue their passions through hands-on experiences with financial support.

According to an article on Wright State University’s website, Hull shared his reasoning for establishing his endowed gift to the university. He is quoted as saying, “Wright State has always been important to me. It’s exciting to think that even one student could benefit from my gift and their ideas about the future might be enhanced with the opportunities this money could provide.”

The Acorn Endowed Fund was first established in September 2023 using an IRA to make Qualified Charitable Donations. The fund will grow in perpetuity thanks to a bequest in Hull’s will. 

Hull said, “This is the largest gift I’ve ever made, but it all makes sense. You have to pay it forward. I was given a lot of opportunities at Wright State.”

The name for the Acorn Endowed Fund came to Hull when he reminisced about his decade as a research assistant for George Kantor, a biological sciences professor at Wright State University who retired in 1998. In Kantor’s lab, there was a handwritten note card on the wall that read “Even a blind hog can find an acorn if he roots long enough.” For Hull, the message was one of persistence that resonated with him all these years later, encouraging him to help provide the ability for students in the College of Science and Mathematics to pursue their passions.

While Hull’s career has led him on several different paths, from clinical genetics to stock trading to business to finance, his experience with Kantor in the 1970s set him off on a lifetime of discovery. Throughout his tenure at the university, Kantor received grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute that helped finance his research projects and allowed him to take on research assistants, of which Hull was one. Hull began to study DNA structure as it relates to cancer. Kantor introduced Hull to a geneticist with Dayton Children’s Hospital, where Hull went on to create the first laboratory in Dayton to evaluate cells collected via amniocentesis.

The next passion Hull found was stock trading, which led him to earn his MBA. 

Explaining the shift, Hull said, “It wasn’t that different from what I had done in biology and research. It’s managing budgets, doing quantitative analysis, doing research to evaluate how and why you’re doing things. It worked out pretty well.”

After working at Dayton Children’s Hospital, Hull spent time working with Dayton Power and Light, WYSO Public Radio, the Dayton Society of Natural History/Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, and Family Medicine Education Consortium. As of July 1, Hull is now also a member of the Wright State University Foundation.

Now, the Acorn Endowed Fund will benefit Wright State University students, programs, and faculty. The College of Science and Mathematics will be able to purchase necessary equipment and supplies and students will have travel to genetics conferences funded. The funding will also establish a collaborative research hub that will give students hands-on opportunities, headed by Shulin Ju, an associate professor of biological sciences.

Ju said, “I’d like to express my deepest gratitude to Doug for his incredible support of our genetics and genomics program. As the program director, I am thrilled to oversee its progress, and I am excited about the transformative impact we will continue to make together.”

Jeffrey Peters, professor and associate chair of biological sciences, hopes that the funding will help the university be able to one day offer a Bachelor of Science in Genetics degree, as the field is growing quickly. He is also looking forward to working with students in the collaborative research hub on projects that will help students gain the skills employers are looking for.

The Acorn Endowed Fund will also support the establishment of the Hull Scholars Program. One undergraduate and one graduate student will be selected every year to become Douglas R. Hull Undergraduate Scholar and Douglas R. Hull Graduate Scholar who will receive financial support for their research endeavors.

Hull said, “I’m happy to have the opportunity to help others pursue their dreams and, hopefully, graduate without a lot of debt.”

For more information about Wright State University, visit the school’s website.