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$1 million gift benefits students NAPLES, FLA.--A $1 million gift will provide Bowling Green State University with private support for entrepreneurial studies,
the golf program and an initiative to make values exploration part of every student's experience.
The contribution from former BGSU students Ronald and Carol Sue Whitehouse was announced Feb. 20 during a luncheon at the
Pelican Bay Club in Naples. The retired couple now divides their time between homes in Harbor Springs, Mich., and Nokomis,
Fla., but Sue grew up in Ottawa Hills, Ohio, and Ron was raised in nearby Sylvania.
Longtime supporters of the University, they have designated that the funds support programs in keeping with what has played
important roles in their own lives. "
The education and values developed during our BGSU undergraduate experience were major contributors to our entrepreneurial
business success," Ron Whitehouse said. "We are extremely pleased that this gift will assist in providing even more opportunities
for today's BGSU student."
The largest portion of the gift, $500,000, will be used to create the Ron & Sue Whitehouse Entrepreneurial Fund to support
educational offerings related to entrepreneurship in the University's College of Business Administration.
A special feature of the college's new minor degree program in entrepreneurship is that it is open to business and non-business
majors alike. "This magnificent gift will provide opportunities for many of our students to turn passion into entrepreneurship,"
according to Dr. Robert Edmister, dean of the college.
A second portion of the gift, $350,000, will support the Creason-Piper Endowed Scholarship in Golf and the intercollegiate
golf program, the sport in which Ron Whitehouse participated as an undergraduate.
Thanking the couple for their continuing support, BGSU Athletic Director Paul Krebs said, "This is a huge benefit for the
men's golf program. While it is always meaningful to receive this kind of support for our athletic programs, it is particularly
meaningful when that support is from former student athletes."
The remaining $150,000 will create the Ron & Sue Whitehouse BG-Experience Fund to support the University's values initiative.
The initiative is designed to make critical thinking about values central to the undergraduate experience at BGSU, according
to College of Arts & Sciences Dean Donald Nieman, who has been involved in the program since its inception. "Ron and Sue Whitehouse's
gift will enable us to significantly enhance this exciting new program that has enormous potential to promote student success,"
the dean noted.
Ron Whitehouse earned a bachelor's degree in economics from BGSU in 1967 and an MBA from the University of Toledo. A former
president and CEO of HQ Chicago Inc. and chairman of the board of HQ Network Systems Inc., a San Francisco-based nationwide
developer of executive business centers, he has been retired since 1998.
The Whitehouses have three grown children and are known for generosity. A past trustee for the Grand Haven Area Community
Foundation in Michigan, Ron Whitehouse currently serves as a member of the BGSU Foundation Board of Directors.
(Posted February 24, 2004 )
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