The Donal Leace Endowment was established in January 2021 to honor the legacy of Donal Richard Leace and his long-time commitment to Duke Ellington School of the Arts and its students. For many years, Donal served as Chair of the Theatre department, where he taught and mentored young artists including Dave Chappelle and Denyce Graves. The purpose of this endowment is to support the administrative and program expenses of the Theatre department, with funds used as best determined by Ellington. Annual interest/dividends earned on the invested Endowment funds, net of fees, will be used for the operational expenses of the Theatre Department. Gains/Losses will be allocated to the corpus (principal) of the Endowment - allowing for growth of the Endowment for years to come. The Endowment will be invested once we receive a minimum of $50,000 in contributions.