Donor gives $50M to St. Thomas business college

St. Thomas
The University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.
MPR Photo/Art Hughes

(AP) - An anonymous donor has given $50 million to the University of St. Thomas' Opus College of Business.

The gift to St. Thomas' "Opening Doors" capital campaign will be used to increase the college's endowment.

Opus College of Business Dean Christopher Puto calls the gift "a dream come true."

The gift will support scholarships for students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The gift also will make several new professional-development programs available for faculty, especially in business research.

St. Thomas says it's one of the three largest gifts to higher education in Minnesota history. The other two gifts also were given to St. Thomas.

"Opening Doors" is an eight-year, $500 million campaign that was announced by St. Thomas in October. To date it has raised $317 million in gifts and pledges, which includes the just announced $50 million donation.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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