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UIndy gets $5M gift to boost liberal arts

Dwight Adams
dwight.adams@indystar.com
University of Indianapolis Board of Trustees Chairman Thomas Martin (left) and College of Arts & Sciences Dean Jennifer Drake (far right) honor UIndy Trustee Yvonne Shaheen on Saturday, May 2, 2015. Shaheen donated $5 million to support UIndy’s College of Arts & Sciences, which is being renamed the Riad and Yvonne Shaheen College of Arts & Sciences, after her and her late husband.

In an increasingly specialized age, a major donation will allow the University of Indianapolis to build on its liberal arts foundation.

The $5 million gift, from local philanthropist and UIndy board member Yvonne Shaheen, is the "largest single pledge gift" that the school has received, UIndy President Robert Manuel said. The College of Arts & Sciences will be renamed after Shaheen and her late husband, Riad.

The endowment, announced Saturday at commencement, will allow UIndy to bolster that school with more scholarships, faculty training, interdisciplinary initiatives and research collaborations between professors and students. It also will help fund more campus visits by national and international figures for lectures and performances.

Robert Manuel, president of the University of Indianapolis, lauded board member Yvonne Shaheen for her $5 million gift to UIndy's College of Arts & Sciences. Manuel called Shaheen a "“true pillar of this city and state."

Manual called a liberal arts education "critical" in today's world, because of its emphasis on creativity, analytical and logical reasoning, and writing and other communications skills.

"Those things are what employers are looking for," Manuel said. "There is an economic reality to a liberal arts education that has stood the test. Most of the CEOs around are from liberally trained backgrounds."

Nearly half of UIndy undergraduates are majoring in course areas covered by the College of Arts & Sciences. But the renewed emphasis on a liberal-arts education doesn't exclude the sciences or technology, Manuel said. Instead, the Shaheen endowment will allow the university to seek out interdisciplinary educational initiatives, he said. For instance, students and professors in various majors — such as history and political science and sociology — could collaborate to find creative solutions to a problem such as poverty.

The renewed liberal-arts push follows other efforts, including the Association of American Colleges and Universities' LEAP (Liberal Education and America's Promise) program, launched in 2005 to ensure college graduates have a broad set of skills and knowledge to better meet needs of employers and become actively engaged citizens.

Manuel called Shaheen "a true pillar of this city and state, providing her personal energy, financial support and wise counsel to many efforts that enrich our community."

Shaheen, a teacher by training, served 18 years as CEO and president of Long Electric Co., taking over the business from her late husband. She is chair of the WFYI Public Media Board of Directors and vice chair of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra board. She was recognized by UIndy with an honorary doctor of humanities degree in 1996 and its honorary alumni award in 2013.

"I've seen the importance of strategic philanthropy in advancing the culture and enhancing the quality of life in this community," Shaheen said in a prepared statement. "The University of Indianapolis plays an integral part in that process, and I am happy to support its efforts to prepare future generations of leaders for the important roles they will play in our society."

Manuel has spearheaded several initiatives at the Southside school, including an investment of $50 million in new campus buildings and programs announced last year that includes plans for a 160,000-square-foot health pavilion to teach students and serve the community.

Call Star web producer and editor Dwight Adams at (317) 444-6532. Follow him on Twitter: @hdwightadams.

Some notable graduates

Here are just a few of the graduates of the University of Indianapolis' College of Arts & Sciences:

• James Hurrell, director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo, who graduated in 1984.

• The late William Raspberry, nationally syndicated columnist, 1958.

• State Rep. Bill Friend, speaker pro tempore of the Indiana General Assembly,1971.

• Longtime ISO cellist Geoffrey Lapin, 1972.

• 2009 Miss America Katie Stam Irk, 2012.

• The late John Birden, National Inventors Hall of Fame member, who patented the nuclear power source that fueled NASA's deep-space probes, The late John Birden, National Inventors Hall of Fame member, who patented the nuclear power source that fueled NASA's deep-space probes, 1942.

Source: University of Indianapolis