St. Thomas Announces Morrison Family College of Health
ST. PAUL, Minn., Nov. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a landmark eight-figure gift from John M. Morrison and Susan Schmid Morrison, the University of St. Thomas today announced the naming of the Morrison Family College of Health. The news signifies the college's next step in realizing its vision to educate health care providers and leaders to advance the physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being of individuals, families and communities.
The gift from the Naples, Florida, family is their latest in a legacy of impact at the Minnesota university. Their support has included co-chairing the Opening Doors campaign from 2007-12 that raised more than $500 million for St. Thomas.
"I'm extraordinarily grateful to John and Sue and the Morrison family," said Dr. Julie Sullivan, president, University of St. Thomas. "They share our excitement for this college's potential to address systemic health care challenges in our communities. This approach is fully aligned with our mission to produce graduates who can advance the common good."
The Morrison Family College of Health will encompass undergraduate and graduate nursing programs; social work; graduate psychology; and a future physician assistant program. The university also anticipates adding other allied health care education and training programs. Once its nursing programs are launched and fully operational, the college expects a total combined enrollment of 1,250 undergraduate and graduate students – which would double the enrollment served in the college's existing programs – with approximately 120 full- and part-time faculty and staff. This would make the college St. Thomas' third largest.
Under the leadership of Dr. MayKao Y. Hang – founding dean and Morrison Family Chair – the college will contribute to building an integrated health care system centered in whole-person care. Its unique educational approach will include partnering with other St. Thomas programs, including the business of health care program at the Opus College of Business and data analytics at the School of Engineering. This will help graduates meet new demands increasingly placed on health care professionals.
St. Thomas' growth in recent years includes the launch of Dougherty Family College in 2017; a $50 million scholarship endowment gift from GHR Foundation in 2017, supporting an ongoing $200 million scholarship drive; completing major renovations to the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas in 2019; and ongoing construction of the Iversen Center for Faith and two new residence halls. The university also is planning a new 160,000-square-foot academic complex for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) on its St. Paul campus. The complex will facilitate collaboration among students and faculty from different disciplines, and even community organizations and businesses. It will also meet capacity demands for engineering and nursing programs, while modernizing performance and arts display spaces.
Vineeta Sawkar
University of St. Thomas
Senior Media Relations Manager
651-962-6404
[email protected]
SOURCE University of St. Thomas
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