I had the pleasure of meeting Carl at a school dinner and find these words to ring true.
#UNCSSW Board of Advisors member Carl Baumann dedicated his career to business, yet social work has held a special place in his heart for decades. Baumann, and his wife Susan, have supported the School’s efforts through collaborations and financial investments, including a generous donation in recent weeks to the School’s unrestricted fund. In 2021, he and his wife committed $1.6 million to create the Carl A. and Susan H. Baumann Macro Student Opportunity Scholarship Fund to support social work students pursuing careers in community, management and policy practice. The motivation behind the donation was to increase access to higher education, especially among students passionate about changing systems and policies affecting marginalized individuals. Baumann has also helped five groups connected to the School write business plans through his work with SCORE Chapel Hill, including most recently providing support for the plan that created the School’s Office of Community Engagement and Outreach. Just last month, he made a significant donation to the School’s unrestricted fund to support discretionary spending by the Dean’s Office. “The reason we contribute to the School of Social Work is its graduates are 100% out there trying to help other people. We think that’s wonderful. They help them in all different areas. The graduates that go into private practice help many individuals and the macro graduates go out and work for non-profits or start non-profits and help even more people. We give to the School because of the impact that the graduates of the School, and the School itself through its research, have on making life better for so many people,” Baumann said. Learn more about his passion for social work, what he would tell others interested in contributing to the School and more in the full Q&A ??