Betty and Bob Beyster Donate $7M to Fund Groundbreaking Nursing Institute at USD

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May 14, 2012, 04:03 ET

SAN DIEGO, May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sally Brosz Hardin, dean of the University of San Diego Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, announced today that Dr. and Mrs. J. Robert Beyster have donated $7 million to fund the Betty and Bob Beyster Institute for Nursing Research, Advanced Practice, and Simulation at USD.

"There is no other institute for nursing research of this kind in the United States," said Hardin. "I am so grateful to Mrs. Beyster and the whole Beyster family. They understand the importance of nursing research and advanced practice for the future of healthcare for San Diego, for all of California and for the country."

Dr. Beyster, a respected physicist, founded SAIC, the largest employee-owned research and engineering firm in the United States in 1969. Today, SAIC is an internationally respected company with offices and employees around the globe. Mrs. Betty Beyster is a devoted volunteer, who has served on many boards in San Diego. The Beysters are generous philanthropists who have supported the arts, culture, education, employee ownership, the environment and health and human services.

"We are very encouraged by the work the USD School of Nursing is doing to dramatically increase the number of nursing educators," said Mrs. Beyster. "We hope our gift will inspire others to contribute to the school and help them dramatically increase the number of advanced practice registered nurses, nurse educators and nurse scientists in our region."

"The Beysters' $7 million gift covers nearly half the costs of this crucial $15 million project," said Hardin. "We are confident other donors will join the Beysters to help us raise the additional funds."

USD's nursing school enrolls more than 450 students, and provides up to 43 percent of the faculty for other nursing schools in San Diego. The school is an incubator of nurse scientists, who guide and shape health care practice and policy at the local, national, and global level.

The technologically advanced institute will be a three-story, LEED Gold-certified structure and includes an expanded Simulation and Standardized Patient Nursing Laboratory, a Doctoral Research Library, and a third-floor Research Center with seminar rooms and classrooms with moveable glass walls.

"We believe the idea-brokers, the ambitious researchers, will find the third-floor incredibly inspiring," Hardin said. "This building will allow us to significantly increase our enrollment and our impact on the nursing profession locally, regionally and nationally."

SOURCE University of San Diego