Alumni couple Bob and Kim Eck will make a $1.5 million gift to Marquette University through the Eck Family Foundation, impacting two areas on campus, President Michael R. Lovell announced today. . This gift will provide seed funding and focus on highly innovative projects within the College of Health Sciences aimed at applying new technologies, new treatments, and research to help address substance abuse disorders.
In addition, a portion of the donation will be used to support a new men's basketball practice facility with the future expansion of the Center for Athletic and Human Performance Research. Bob graduated in 1980 and served as Chairman of the Marquette Board of Directors from 2020 to 2023. Mr. Kim received his degree in 2013.
“Like many families, our family has felt the effects of addiction and the difficulty of finding effective treatment,” Bob and Kim Eck said. “Finding funding for early-stage research is extremely difficult. Our hope is that our gift will lead to advances in the development of new treatments and relieve suffering for many people.”
Promoting holistic health
President Lovell shared details of the university’s new strategic plan. Guided by mission and driving change, in a recent presidential address. He said Eck's gift is also a step toward growing a campus of “thriving students” as Marquette strives to become a nationally recognized leader in integrating student health, transformation and success. emphasized.
“We are grateful for this extraordinary, mission-focused gift from the Eck family. Their generosity will have a profound impact on pressing social issues,” President Lovell said. “This gift furthers our progress as a research university known for excellence and innovation, key themes of our new strategic plan, and positions our Athletic & Human Performance Research Center to: It will raise the level.”
In recent years, the Eck family has been instrumental in promoting health promotion across campus. In September 2022, Bob Eck announced the university's plans to house President Lovell and First Lady Amy Lovell in the Wellness Tower planned within the newly renovated Wellness + Helfer Recreation Facility, and both for their “extraordinary leadership in addressing mental health in Milwaukee and across the region.” ” Within four months, the university had raised her $5 million in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Lovell.
Turn seed money into major grant funding
Philanthropic seed funding like the Ex.'s often helps researchers advance scientific advances, which can then be leveraged into larger grants from the National Institutes of Health and other sources. Masu. A portion of the Eckes' gift will support the College of Health Sciences' Center for Integrative Neuroscience Research, a research center for neuroscientists, clinicians, and pharmaceutical scientists focused on understanding and addressing the cognitive, emotional, and motivational regions of the brain. It will be devoted to developing a network of collaborating scientists, including experts. Depression, neuropsychiatric disorders, addiction, spinal cord research, weight regulation.
“We have made very intentional investments for more than a decade to develop world-class scientists in the critical field of neuroscience,” said William E. Cullinan, dean of the School of Health Sciences. says Dr. “We are deeply grateful for this gift from the Eck family that will accelerate our research efforts. Our ultimate vision is to incorporate discoveries in the lab and create solutions for families looking for solutions. It is about leading to breakthrough results.”
Campaign momentum continues
Market history rise time The fundraising campaign is the most ambitious in the university's 143-year history. In February, Chancellor Lovell announced that the university had surpassed its $750 million goal and appealed to the Marquette community to move toward the campaign's completion in June 2024.
“We are very fortunate to have had two philanthropic leaders throughout our history, Bob and Kim. rise time campaign,” said Tim McMahon, vice president for university advancement. “This latest gift is a testament to both the way we pursue scientific discoveries to treat addiction and the way we work to strengthen the base of our flagship men's basketball program. It reflects their values and beliefs.”
The Eck family is earmarking a portion of the gift for future projects that will expand university athletics and athletics. human The Performance Research Center will include a new practice facility for the men's basketball program and academic resources for student-athletes. President Lovell revealed in January that Marquette alumnus and NBA Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade had donated to the project, as well as supporting literacy and scholarship initiatives.
This expansion will free up highly utilized space in the Al McGuire Center for the women's basketball and volleyball programs and increase instruction, advising and learning space for all student-athletes. The first phase of AHPRC opened in 2019. As the university community continues to build momentum for his AHPRC, rise time Throughout the campaign, donors expressed their interest in philanthropy in support of AHPRC's second phase. This facility is still in the financing and development stage.
