DePaul alumnus George L. Ruff and his wife Tanya S. Ruff have donated $21 million to the university to fund scholarships and the DePaul’s Institute of Global Homelessness  — which is set to be renamed the George and Tanya Ruff Institute of Global Homelessness — according to a Friday morning Newsline release. 

The George L. and Tanya S. Ruff Endowed Scholarship will support “low-income students, students of color, first-generation college students and current members or veterans of the United States armed services.”  

Part of the scholarship funds have been made immediately available by the Ruffs as part of the university’s Now We Must campaign, for which Mr. Ruff serves on the committee. 

Funds designated to the George and Tanya Ruff Institute of Global Homelessness have also been made immediately available for use.

“I became very interested in trying to do something about the homelessness situation I was seeing unfold across the nation and around the world,” Ruff told Newsline. “Ending homelessness is something Tanya and I are interested in being a part of and are happy to lend our names to.”

Additionally, the Ruffs have issued the “Double Your Impact” Ruff Scholarship Challenge, in which they will match any gift of $50,000 or more, up to $750,000, from March 1 to Dec. 31 to create a new endowed scholarship fund. 

“George and Tanya Ruff are extremely generous individuals who are devoted to our university and the Vincentian mission we all hold dear,” DePaul President A. Gabriel Esteban told Newsline. “On behalf of DePaul, I am extremely grateful to George and Tanya for their transformational gift. It will benefit our students and the larger community for many decades to come.”