Fiscal year 2024 was the most successful fundraising year in Bellarmine University’s history, with total giving of more than $18 million.

Gifts from individuals, companies and foundations supported a year of achievements at Bellarmine, including:
  • The awarding of 855 degrees at the 71st commencement ceremony in May;
  • The university’s receiving the national Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement;
  • Forbes Magazine’s ranking of Bellarmine’s online nurse practitioner programs as eighth in the nation; and
  • The completion of the university’s full transition to NCAA Division I athletics
“It’s been a wonderful year at Bellarmine, and that could not happen without the tremendous support of our donors and their belief in our mission,” said Bellarmine President Susan M. Donovan. 
 
“With their help, we continue to provide our students with a robust liberal arts education and to strengthen meaningful, mutually beneficial partnerships with businesses and organizations, such as our ongoing partnership with Norton Healthcare.”
 
The FY24 fundraising total was the result of strong donor relationships and their philanthropic investments along with annual communitywide efforts such as Knights Unite, Bellarmine’s annual Day of Giving; Giving Tuesday; and Athletics Week of Giving. 
 
“We are so grateful for the generosity of all our donors, this year and in years to come,” said Scott Self, vice president of Development and Alumni Relations. “We rely on philanthropy to continue the important work of Bellarmine University, particularly as we focus on making a Bellarmine education accessible to as many bright and deserving students as possible.”
 
Donors have a variety of options for supporting the university, including outright gifts, estate gifts, endowments and pledges. Below are details of several types of gifts in FY24 and how they will benefit Bellarmine students, faculty and staff.
 
Dr. Allan and Donna Lansing Family 
 
A $3.6 million gift from the estate of Dr. Allan and Donna Lansing in November 2023 brought their family’s lifetime giving total to Bellarmine to more than $10 million, making the Lansings the largest individual donors in the university’s history.
 
The $3.6 million is earmarked for Nursing and Allied Health programs; the men’s basketball and baseball programs; the Clinical Recitation Initiative for Student Enrichment (RISE) program; and the Bellarmine Fund, which supports all students and overall academic excellence.
 
The Lansings became involved with Bellarmine in the 1980s. Dr. Lansing, an internationally renowned cardiothoracic surgeon, was a longtime Bellarmine trustee and onetime chair, and the couple established several scholarship funds, most notably the Lansing Scholars Program. Through the Norton Hospital Foundation, that program helps to cover selected Bellarmine University students while they work toward their degrees in nursing and the health sciences. Upon graduation, Lansing Scholars begin their careers at Norton Healthcare and are eligible to have their loans forgiven.
 
The university's Donna and Allan Lansing School of Nursing and Clinical Sciences is named for the couple.
 
“The Lansings’ love of this community launched a partnership between Bellarmine and Norton Healthcare that has grown many times over,” Donovan said. “Their generosity has changed the lives of countless students and patients throughout our city and will continue to do so for many years to come.”  
 
Dr. Mushtaque Juneja ’00 MBA
 
A $1.725 million gift from Dr. Mushtaque Juneja ’00 MBA, a Louisville anesthesiologist and entrepreneur, is supporting premier facilities, state-of-the-art equipment, and faculty and students in Bellarmine’s new Doctor of Nursing Practice-Nurse Anesthesia (DNP-NA) program. 
 
The program, which was announced in December 2022 and accredited in early 2023, is now called the Bellarmine University Juneja Nurse Anesthesia Program.  
 
The DNP-NA prepares nurses for high-paying jobs and a higher level of autonomy in a growing career field. Nurse anesthetists practice in virtually every healthcare setting, including surgical suite, labor and delivery units, endoscopy, lithotripsy and interventional areas. 
 
“We are extremely grateful for this generous gift from Dr. Mushtaque Juneja, which is a continuation of his commitment to Bellarmine, our Nurse Anesthesia residents, and the entire anesthesia profession,” said Dr. Carly Mitchell, director of Bellarmine’s DNP-NA program, which is housed in the Lansing School. 
 
Juneja practices at Norton Hospital in downtown Louisville and Norton Women’s and Children’s Hospital in St. Matthews. While serving as chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at Norton Suburban Hospital, he started a nurse anesthesia school in conjunction with Texas Wesleyan University. He is an international entrepreneur, commercial real estate developer, restaurateur and financial consultant. He is also a founding member of Bellarmine’s Rubel School of Business Executive Advisory Council. 
 
Juneja and his wife, Dr. Samina Juneja, are longtime supporters of Bellarmine. They made possible the construction of the Ponte Juneja Bridge on Via Cassia Road and named the Eva Vivienne Juneja Study Room in memory of their granddaughter. 
 
Richard S. Reynolds Foundation
 
A $500,000 gift from the Richard S. Reynolds Foundation is advancing Bellarmine’s goal to be one of the nation’s best private universities for veterans and military-affiliated students.
 
The bulk of the gift supports tuition-based scholarships. It also provides housing support and specialized programming through Bellarmine’s Office of Military and Veteran Services (OMVS). Bellarmine’s Center of Excellence for Veteran Student Success is the only one of its kind at a private school in the region, and the university’s Valor Learning Community is the first military-affiliated learning community for first-year and transfer students in Kentucky.
 
“We have a long-range vision for supporting military-affiliated students. We feel it is our duty to serve those individuals who have given so much to serve our country,” Donovan said. “We also have a strong history of partnering with the Richard S. Reynolds Foundation.”
 
Richard S. “R.S.” Reynolds founded the United States Foil Company, later called Reynolds Metals Company, which provided aluminum for military use in World War II and introduced Reynolds Wrap. After his death in 1955, his widow, Julia Louise Reynolds, started the Reynolds Foundation, which has provided over $66 million in grants to causes such as education, the arts, health and the environment.
 
The Reynolds’ grandson, Randy Reynolds, a Bellarmine graduate and Foundation trustee, helped to secure the gift before his death earlier this year. He and the Reynolds Foundation had previously supported Bellarmine’s Frazier Stadium, Bellarmine Centro and the Rubel School of Business.
 
Dr. David Crowe ’68
 
A $400,000 endowed scholarship fund established by Dr. David Crowe ’68, an economist who lives in Afton, Va., will support full-time undergraduate students in the Rubel School of Business.
 
Preference for recipients of the Crowe Family Endowed Scholarship will be given to students interested in economics and/or big data, such as data analytics and data management. 
 
Crowe designated Bellarmine University as the beneficiary of an annuity estimated at $400,000. He will also make outright annual gifts of $2,500, allowing Bellarmine to begin awards to Crowe Scholars in fall 2024. The annual gifts will provide a bridge of scholarship support until the endowed scholarship is fully funded via his estate plans.
 
He said he had two primary reasons for establishing a scholarship fund at Bellarmine.
 
“I was fortunate to have parents and family who helped me afford Bellarmine. I left with no student debt, which at the time would have been even more difficult to repay since I was drafted immediately upon graduation. Many don’t have that kind of support,” he said.
 
“Also, my further education and career were greatly enhanced and rewarded by the solid and broad education I received at Bellarmine. A liberal arts education from a smaller institution broadened my view of the world and my ability to communicate with a wide variety of people and encouraged my life-time pursuit of learning.”
 
Raymond G. Strothman ’67
 
Raymond G. Strothman ’67 CPA, founder and chair of the accounting firm Strothman and Company, pledged $100,000 to the Rubel School of Business to support the school’s use of the Bloomberg Terminal, a leading global business, finance and analytical tool used for interactive education.
 
The Bloomberg Terminal is a software and computer system that provides real-time global financial data and news. Students have access to the same information and technology that finance professionals use, including the New York Stock Exchange.
 
Strothman’s firm, founded in 1983, has more than 80 associates, making it one of the largest CPA firms in the region. Effective Nov. 1, 2023, Strothman merged with LBMC, the largest CPA firm in Tennessee. As president and chair, Strothman played an integral part in the firm’s management. He has experience in all areas of public accounting and has worked with business owners, investors and nonprofits. 
 
In addition to the Bloomberg Terminal, Strothman sponsored a recruiting room in Centro. He is also a long-term member of the Rubel School’s Executive Advisory Council.
 

“I support Bellarmine because Bellarmine provides a Christian-based education that forms a strong foundation for a student’s personal and business life,” he said. “I credit my Bellarmine education with helping me develop the discipline and principles I use in all areas of my business and personal life.”

Philanthropic gifts support the Bellarmine University mission and our remarkable students. Make a gift today or learn more about giving opportunities.