Robert Edmister (right) dean of the College of Business Administration, presents a plaque to donors Patrick and Debra Sheetz Ryan in commemorating their gift to the college's entrepreneurship program. The couple, both BGSU alumni, also made a large donation to the biologcal sciences department to enhance the endowed professorship created by them in 2001.

Ryan family's gift is boon to biology, entrepreneur program

Two areas of the University have received a significant boost through the generosity of loyal alumni. Patrick L. and Debra (Scheetz) Ryan visited campus Jan. 15 to present $500,000 to Bowling Green. Half of the gift will double the Patrick L. and Debra Ryan Endowed Professorship in Biology, which they established in 2001. The other half will help develop the entrepreneurship program in the College of Business Administration.

In accepting the Ryans’ gift to the biology department, Donald Nieman, arts and sciences dean, commented that there are several characteristics of great universities: talented faculty who can challenge and inspire students and who are on the cutting edge of research; bright, talented students; a dedicated staff who foster an environment conducive to learning, and “engaged alumni whose support allows us to achieve excellence.

“This is especially true now in the early 21st century, as state support diminishes. Private support is essential in our aspirations to excellence,” Nieman said. “The Ryans have felt a commitment to give back to the University for the experiences they treasure.”

The Ryans, of Wadsworth, Ohio, are both 1974 BGSU graduates. His degree is in accounting and hers is in biology. They have remained active with the University. Patrick is treasurer the BGSU Foundation Board and is assisting with the University’s national Comprehensive Campaign, and Debra serves as a College of Arts & Sciences advocate.

Biological sciences enhanced
Their gift to the biological sciences department will enable the University to recruit and retain the best faculty, which will in turn allow BGSU faculty to interact with other outstanding colleagues, and students to study with top scientists in their fields, Nieman said.

George Bullerjahn, former department chair, commented in thanking the Ryans that the additional gift will keep Bowling Green on the same upwards trajectory it has followed over the last 15 years. The hiring of Scott Rogers as department chair was one recent step in the process, he said, and the new gift will aid in both recruiting a full-time neurobiologist next year and in planning for the planned new biological sciences building.

Maiesha Hicks, a freshman microbiology major, also thanked the Ryans for their continuing commitment to the department. “Your endorsement helps me and students like me to succeed. I speak on behalf of the hundreds and possible thousands of students whose lives will be impacted by your generous gift,” she told them.

Patrick Ryan described the department as one of the University’s “centers of excellence” and said he and his wife are pleased to be a part of the external resources that help continue the tradition.

Entrepreneurship program strengthened
The second half of the Ryan gift will build the entrepreneurship minor offered by the College of Business Administration for all students at BGSU, regardless of major. Funds will go toward supplementing the salary of faculty to increase their teaching capability in entrepreneurship, said Dean Robert Edmister. “We want to build a cadre of faculty who have the capacity to teach in this area,” he said. “We expect students in the thousands for these courses.”

The program has already generated much excitement, said Nancy Merritt, marketing faculty and associate dean of the college. Two courses this semester closed out at 44 students each, which was more than ideal, but “students are banging on our doors for these courses,” she said.

The Ryans’ gift will help expand entrepreneurial programming and opportunities for students, and help ensure the program's financial independence as well, Edmister added.

Patrick Ryan commented that it was important to the couple that the minor be open not only to business majors but to BGSU students in all disciplines. “It is important to mix the academic and the real-life worlds,’ he said, adding the couple challenges the college to make the program “another center of excellence, just as is biology.”

Craig Jarrett, a biology/chemistry/math major who plans to go on to medical school, explained that he is also pursuing the minor in entrepreneurship because, should he open his own medical practice someday, it will be important to understand the business side of being a doctor. “It’s so important in today’s world for people to understand the role of the entrepreneur,” he said at the reception.

The cross-disciplinary possibilities are great, Merritt said. For example, two new collaborations are being developed, between entrepreneurship and the theatre department and entrepreneurship and technology.

Other entrepreneurship advocates are lending their support as well. Also on hand at the event were David Francisco, former president of Sky Bank, who will serve as “executive in residence” for the program, and alumnus Larry Davenport, a BGSU Foundation Board member referred to by Edmister as “the founding father” of the entrepreneurship program at BGSU.

Davenport, a partner in Ernst and Young LLP who oversees that company’s entrepreneurship division, said he has long been eager to see Bowling Green graduates employed in start-up companies, and for those companies to see the University as a good place to recruit employees.

“It’s not just about creating entrepreneurs, but about preparing students to work in these kinds of businesses,” in which the culture and mindset are very different from the corporate world, he said.
“I see a terrible need in the marketplace for people with this kind of background,” Davenport said.