The Gheens Foundation has awarded Bellarmine University a $750,000 grant to support implementation of Bellarmine's
Vision 2020 plan for continued growth and improvement.
The grant will be deposited in Bellarmine's endowment fund, which helps the university create new academic programs, hire additional faculty and construct new campus facilities.
Bellarmine continues building new residence halls to keep up with growth in its residential population, which is now over 1,000 students. |
"The Gheens Foundation supports organizations that can have profound impact on our community," said Carl M. Thomas, executive director of The Gheens Foundation. "Bellarmine's impressive growth and its vision for the future gave our board great confidence that this contribution will help the university accelerate its growth, to the benefit of Louisville and the region."
Since 1977, The Gheens Foundation has invested over $3 million in Bellarmine University, according to Thomas.
"The Gheens Foundation distinguishes itself by identifying and supporting key strategic initiatives in the area with a proven record and a clearly demonstrated potential to transform individual lives and enhance the quality of life," said Dr. Joseph J. McGowan, Bellarmine's president. "Bellarmine University, therefore, is affirmed, humbled and profoundly grateful to receive from the Gheens Foundation a generous, substantial gift of $750,000 to strengthen our endowment as we continue to realize our vision to become the premier private university in the Commonwealth and region."
In 2005, Bellarmine developed Vision 2020, in response to a challenge by its Board of Trustees to define what the school should aspire to become over the next 15 years. Vision 2020 set a broad vision for new schools, new majors, new buildings and new ways to serve Louisville and Kentucky. It calls for Bellarmine to become the premier independent Catholic university in the South, and thereby the leading private university in the commonwealth and region.
About The Gheens Foundation
The Gheens Foundation was created in 1957 by C. Edwin and Mary Jo Gheens. It is headquartered in Louisville and with approximately $85 million in assets, is the second largest private, independent foundation in the commonwealth. Its primary programmatic focus is education and its primary geographic focus is metropolitan Louisville. It pro-actively seeks opportunities to support innovative, creative organizations and projects that will have significant long-term impacts on the communities it serves.
About Bellarmine University
Bellarmine University is an independent Catholic university offering more than 50 majors, as well as graduate degree programs, a doctor of nursing practice and a doctor of physical therapy. U.S. News & World Report and the Princeton Review consistently rank Bellarmine among America’s best institutions for higher education. The university is celebrating 60 years of academic excellence for lives of leadership and service.