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The University of Washington plans today to announce a gift from a California businessman and his wife of $10 million to support the school's endeavors in both academics and athletics. The gift by Neal Dempsey, Class of '64, and his wife Janet, is the largest alumni gift ever to the university, and it follows a $3 million donation the couple made earlier this year. Half of today's $10 million donation will go to the Business School's Program in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (PEI), which will use the endowment to launch major research into the very nature of innovation and to boost interaction between students of business and science. "It's going to be the No. 1 entrepreneurship program in the country, if we do things right," Neal Dempsey said. The other $5 million, earmarked for intercollegiate athletics, will provide scholarships ($1 million), refurbish the Conibear Shellhouse, which also houses the Student-Athlete Life Center ($1 million), and help fund a multi-sport indoor practice facility ($3 million). The practice center will open this summer as Dempsey Indoor. "The goal is to help student-athletes, and I have a great admiration for them," Neal Dempsey said. "Very few will go on to careers in professional sports, and we need to make sure that their academic needs are met." |
