Recent Notable Philanthropy: Nursing
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the nation collectively recognized the essential, transformative, and compassionate care that nurses provide. While many aspects of life have returned to normal, the nursing profession is still struggling with the aftermath of Covid-19 burnout, as well as generally dealing with the aging population of the United States. In response to this national need for nurses, philanthropists have invested in all forms of nursing education with transformational gifts.
Below is a summary of these generous gifts from 2020 until today:
University Of Pennsylvania Celebrates $125M Gift Establishing Leonard A. Lauder Community Care Nurse Practitioner Program – February 22, 2022
The University of Pennsylvania announced the Leonard A. Lauder Community Care Nurse Practitioner Program, which will recruit and prepare a diverse cadre of expert nurse practitioners to provide primary care to individuals and families in underserved communities across the U.S. The $125M donation is from Leonard A. Lauder, Chairman Emeritus of the Estée Lauder Companies. Mr. Lauder is a Penn alumnus.
Montana State University Receives $101M Supporting Its College Of Medicine – August 20, 2021
Montana State University announced a $101M gift supporting its College of Nursing from Mark and Robyn Jones as they seek to help address one of the most defining challenges of our time — access to health care, particularly for rural and frontier communities.
Hunter College Receives $52M To Educate More Nurses – November 17, 2022
Hunter College received $52M from Leonard Lauder in honor of his late wife, Evelyn, an alumna of the college. Hunter will use the money to expand its 1,200-student nursing school. The gift is to enhance the existing graduate-level program for nurse practitioners, who are registered nurses with advanced training that allows them to do many of the things doctors do.
University of Massachusetts Announced $50M For Nursing – September 1, 2021
The University of Massachusetts received a $50M outright gift from Robert J. and Donna Manning. The gift is aimed at increasing access and opportunity across the five-campus university system. $15M will endow the UMass Boston nursing program, which is now the Robert and Donna Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences. The funds will be focused on supporting student diversity and ensuring that the new cohort of nursing professionals are champions of equitable patient care.
University Of Connecticut Receives $40M Supporting The School Of Nursing – October 6, 2023
Elisabeth DeLuca, an alumna of the University of Connecticut School of Nursing, made a gift of $40M to the University of Connecticut that will position the School of Nursing to combat the state and national nursing shortage. Ms. DeLuca’s gift will provide scholarships and programmatic support for a dynamic nursing education that includes patient-centered practice, interdisciplinary research, and technology-based innovations. It will also support the construction of a new state-of-the-art facility for the School of Nursing in Storrs, CT.
Marquette University Announced $31M Supporting Its School of Nursing – February 4, 2021
Darren and Terry Jackson, alumnus of the university, donated $31M to support the strategic initiatives of the College of Nursing. The gift will fund scholarships, increase diversity, drive innovative health care advances, and support other needs of the college. The College of Nursing’s vision is to prepare 5,000 nurses over the next decade and beyond. Of the 5,000 nurses, the college aspires to educate 1,000 diverse Marquette Nurses, grow Ph.D.-prepared faculty and is endeavoring to lead in emerging areas, including telehealth education. Recognizing the rapidly changing health care environment, the plans aim to meet a pressing need to develop future nurse leaders.
Pennsylvania State University Receives $27.125M, Naming Their College Of Nursing – July 15, 2021
Ross and Carol Nese, longtime supporters of Pennsylvania State University’s College of Nursing, pledged $27.125M to enhance nursing education at the University. The gift provides a combination of endowed and outright funding for scholarships, faculty and program support, and facilities and equipment. Additionally, the couple’s giving is recognized through the renamed Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing.
Children’s Hospital Of Los Angeles Announces Anonymous $25M Gift Supporting Nursing – February 23, 2022
Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles celebrated a $25M anonymous donation supporting their pediatric nursing program. The gift will support investments in programs targeting nursing certification, mentorship, training, and research funding.
The University Of Massachusetts Amherst Received $21.5M Donation – September 16, 2021
The University of Massachusetts Amherst announced today that it has received a gift of $21.5M from the Elaine Nicpon Marieb Charitable Foundation. The university’s College of Nursing will become the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing, named for the late UMass Amherst nursing alumna Elaine Nicpon Marieb. The gift will advance the university’s nursing engineering center and provide support for student scholarships, an endowed professorship, and mentorship and research initiatives designed to further access, equity, and excellence in nursing education.
Joanne and Bill Conway Support Catholic University with $20M – March 17, 2020
Joanne and Bill Conway committed $20M to accelerate the construction of a new nursing and sciences building. This gift is in addition to a prior $20M commitment to the capital needs of the nursing and sciences building, as well as their over $20M invested in scholarships for the nursing school since 2013. The Conway School of Nursing was named in honor of their philanthropic investment. The new facility will house the Conway School of Nursing, providing enough space to double the current size of the student body and faculty.
University Of Virginia School Of Nursing Receives $14M From Joanne And Bill Conway – September 2, 2022
In 2022, the University of Virginia’s School of Nursing announced a $14M gift from Joanne and Bill Conway, bringing the couple’s giving to $94M since 2013. This gift provides scholarship support for nursing students. The couple gave an additional $20M gift in 2021 which provides scholarship support for an additional 160 students of Catholic University School of Nursing over the next five years. The couple also gave another $20M in 2020 to support the enrollment of more than 1,000 students in its programs over the next decade. The couple’s gift will help enroll and support more nursing students across two undergraduate pathways in particular: students who transfer into the B.S. in nursing program; and RN-to-B.S.N. students, practicing registered nurses with two-year degrees seeking the personal and professional benefits a baccalaureate degree brings. These students will benefit from scholarship support that will decrease their debt, removing a barrier for individuals seeking a degree. Their previous gifts focused on support and expansion of the school’s Clinical Nurse Leader program and established the Clinical Nurse Leader Conway Scholars program.
Endicott College Announces $20M Partnership With Cummings Foundation – October 21, 2021
Endicott College received a $20M donation from the Cummings Foundation, a family foundation for Bill and Joyce Cummings. In recognition of their philanthropy, the college named the Cummings School of Nursing and Health Sciences. The funding will support a new state-of-the-art educational space for instructing future nurses, and represents an investment in American healthcare, which has seen a nursing shortage exacerbated by the pandemic. The building will also house the Sport Science program providing students with interactive lab spaces and traditional classrooms.
University Of Louisiana Lafayette Receives $20M For Nursing Programs – March 15, 2021
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette and LHC Group announced a historic and transformational partnership designed to further each of their respective missions of recruiting and equipping more nurses and other health care professionals. The University announced that LHC Group is committing a $20M investment over the next 10 years in the University’s nursing program. The gift will help empower the future of health care and meet the ever-growing demand for nurses and other health care professionals.
University Of Houston College Of Nursing Gets New Name After $20M Donation – May 9, 2023
The University of Houston College of Nursing has been renamed the Andy and Barbara Gessner College of Nursing after the couple gifted the college $20M. The donation will go toward strengthening education and research, bolstering clinical learning, funding scholarships and fellowships for students, establishing three endowed professorships, and ultimately increasing the number of highly educated nurses in the workforce.
Indiana University Of Nursing At IUPUI Receives $16M Gift From IU Health – May 3, 2022
Indiana University Health donated $16M to the Indiana University School of Nursing at IUPUI. The gift supports the infrastructure necessary to enroll more nursing students, including faculty and staff recruitment and education; expansion of classroom, lab and simulation space; and student support services. To support the enrollment increase required to address this need, the school will hire more full-time faculty and create a robust one-year mentoring program to help first-time educators, including practicing nurses, transition to the classroom.
University Of Maryland School Of Nursing Receives $13.83M Supporting Scholarship Program – February 11, 2021
The University of Maryland School of Nursing received a $13.8M donation from Bill and Joanne Conway. The couple made the pledge through their Bedford Falls Fund to continue UMSON’s Conway Scholars program and create an additional 345 scholarships which cover in-state tuition, undergraduate book fees and other expenditures. The gift marked the fourth donation to UMSON from the Conways; the family has donated nearly $30M over the last six years.
Virginia Commonwealth University School Of Nursing Receives $13M From Joanne And Bill Conway – September 26, 2022
The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing received a $13M gift made by Joanne and Bill Conway through their Bedford Falls Foundation-DAF. The gift enables the school to provide scholarships to reduce the cost of a nursing education for more than 1,000 undergraduate and doctoral students over the next five years. With this gift, the school can double the total amount of scholarship support for students and increase the number of scholarships awarded by 37% over the next five years.
The Howley Foundation Donates $12M To Cleveland Clinic – August 2, 2023
The Cleveland Clinic has received a gift of more than $12M from The Howley Foundation to double the number of nurse scholars at Cleveland Clinic, beginning in fall 2023. In recognition of this new gift and the Foundation’s cumulative support, all programs within the ASPIRE initiative at Cleveland Clinic will be renamed to honor the Howley name including the Howley ASPIRE Nurse Scholars Program. The nursing program is for local high school and college students, and seeks to increase diversity in healthcare, address opportunity gaps and reduce health disparities in the community. Prior giving from the foundation totals over $20M.
$10M Gift Aims To Transform Nursing At Englewood Health – April 3, 2020
The Englewood Health Foundation received a donation from The Kaplen Foundation and its president, Maggie Kaplen. The gift established The Kaplen Institute for Nursing Excellence at Englewood Health and will help secure and reimagine the future of nursing for the health system.
The Lahey Hospital & Medical Center Received $10M Gift To Support Nursing Education, Training, And Professional Development – May 26, 2021
Lahey Hospital & Medical Center received a transformational $10M gift to establish the Jean Cunningham Department of Nursing and Jean Cunningham Chair in Nursing. Given in memory of Jean Cunningham, who was a nurse at LHMC for more than 40 years, the gift will support lifelong career and leadership development for the hospital’s nurses and support high-quality care and outcomes for patients and families. In establishing the Jean Cunningham Department of Nursing, the anonymous gift will support and sustain a comprehensive nursing education and professional development program, establish an endowed fund to provide annual nursing scholarships, and provide funds for nursing innovation and excellence. The gift also establishes the Jean Cunningham Chair in Nursing, to be held by LHMC’s Chief Nursing Officer.
University Of Central Florida Received $10M From Dr. Phillips Charities – November 17, 2022
Dr. Phillips Charities and University of Central Florida (UCF) announced a $10M donation to support the College of Nursing’s new building, which will help UCF graduate more nurses and combat the nation’s critical nursing shortage while fostering more innovation and collaboration in Lake Nona’s Medical City. The new home of the College of Nursing will sit on the 50-acre property already home to the UCF College of Medicine and the UCF Lake Nona Medical Center.
The University Of Arkansas At Fort Smith’s Nursing Program Receives $10M – June 26, 2023
With a $10M gift from the Windgate Foundation, the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith nursing program will be able to serve more students, which will send more nurses out into the workforce at a time of state and national scarcity. The gift will allow the university to expand the current bachelor degree program — both the traditional and accelerated tracks — and create a new Associate Degree in Nursing program. The program will include a traditional track as well as an LPN to RN track, and an RN to BSN track will be created.
Providence College To Name Nursing And Health Sciences Building In Honor Of Donor – June 6, 2023
In memory of her late husband, Ben, Madeleine Mondor has made a $10M lead gift to the college to support the initiative. The facility, scheduled to be completed in January 2025, will be known as the Ben Mondor Center for Nursing and Health Sciences. Encompassing 125,000 square feet, the building will feature high-tech teaching and learning environments for clinical nursing simulation, anatomy and physiology, and academic spaces to support engaged student learning.
Florida Atlantic University Receives $10M For College Of Nursing – November 16, 2022
Florida Atlantic University has received a $10M bequest expectancy from Holli Rockwell Trubinsky and Joseph Trubinsky to establish the Holli Rockwell Trubinsky Eminent Dean in Nursing. Their gift will also create an endowed fund to support excellence in nursing leadership and education in the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing.
