Bellarmine University announced Nov. 15 that it has received a $3.6 million donation from the estate of Dr. Allan and Donna Lansing.
The funds will be used for the university’s nursing and allied health programs, the men’s basketball and baseball programs, the Clinical Recitation Initiative for Student Enrichment (RISE) program and the Bellarmine Fund, which supports every student and overall academic excellence, said a press release from Bellarmine.
The late Allan Lansing was a heart surgeon and a long-time trustee of the university. This latest gift brings the family’s lifetime donations to $10 million — making the Lansings the largest donors in the university’s history, according to the release.
Michele Lansing Flowers, the couple’s daughter and executor of their estate, said in the release, “Bellarmine and Bellarmine students were always important to our parents. Our father was especially partial to the nursing program because he said he could never have done it without the nurses who cared for his patients 24/7. They were an integral part of patients’ recovery; their emotional and physical support system. He may have fixed his patients’ hearts, but the nurses made them whole again.”
Dr. Susan M. Donovan, Bellarmine’s president, expressed gratitude for the gift.
“The Lansings’ love of this community launched a partnership between Bellarmine and Norton Healthcare that has grown many times over,” she said in the release. “Their generosity has changed the lives of countless students and patients throughout our city — and with this most recent gift, will continue to do so for many years to come.”
