Endowments Endowed Institutes and Centers
Endowed institutes and centers promote significant and strategic teaching initiatives of the college.
Generous donors inspired to create institutes and centers provide our community with the learning environment and financial support it deserves, now and in the years to come.
Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts
The Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts was established in 2000 with the goal of strengthening liberal arts education locally and nationally. The institute is funded through a $2.18 million endowment. The Fletcher Jones Foundation gave $500,000 to endow the institute, the lead grant toward an initial $2 million goal. Subsequent grants came from another foundation in Southern California and from other friends and colleagues of former Westmont President Stan Gaede.
Martin Family Institute for Christianity & Culture and Dallas Willard Center for Spiritual Formation
Trustee Patty Martin and her husband, Eff, helped create the Martin Family Institute and Dallas Willard Center for Spiritual Formation. The Willard Center was established to develop student “leaders to articulate the philosophical, theological, and biblical rationale for developing an interactive relationship with Christ.”
Martin joined the Westmont Board of Trustees in 2005. She and her husband learned about the college through the students and alumni they met at their church. “Westmont graduates impress me and my husband with their vibrant faith and Christ-like character,” Martin says.
Centers
Trustee Emeritus David Eaton and his wife, Carol, helped establish the Eaton Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The center focuses on entrepreneurship, the ethics of enterprise, and effective management. Students explore the intersection of faith and learning and develop business plans for social enterprises designed to help people as well as make a profit.
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“It’s important for a Christian college to offer this emphasis,” Carol says. “The Christian world needs people who are interested and successful in business and entrepreneurship.” “We appreciate the decade's long commitment to academics as witnessed by Westmont’s top 100 national ranking, " David says. "And the focus on character development is essential for any effective business leader." |
Roy and D’Aun Goble, who both graduated from Westmont in 1981, have created the Goble Center for Global Learning through their leadership gift. Under the direction of Cynthia Toms, director of global education, the center will expand Westmont’s off-campus programs, implement the college’s unique Cycle of Global Learning, and encourage all students to benefit from study abroad and cross-cultural experiences.
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“We’re highly engaged in various global endeavors, and everywhere I go, I run across Westmont students who are doing amazing things,” Roy says. “If we give Westmont an extra impetus in engaging at the global level, it’s unimaginable what our students might accomplish in the future. We want them to grow and thrive in an increasingly globalized world.” |
The Hughes Center for Neuroscience and Leadership was established to apply cutting-edge discoveries in neuroscience to leadership development. Faithful supporters Linda and Bill Hughes decided to support the neuroscience center when they heard President Beebe share his vision and passion for the project. Beebe believes that helping leaders develop emotional intelligence and qualities such as empathy and human rapport will enhance their ability to manage emotionally fraught or politically delicate situations in their organizations.
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“We appreciate Westmont’s Christian values and ethics,” Bill says. “It’s so important to raise up leaders in the United States who recognize their moral responsibility to society. Westmont sets that example by giving students the big picture and educating the whole person.” |
The Mosher Center for Moral and Ethical Leadership, established by a gift from the Mosher Foundation, is part of Westmont’s new Global Leadership Center. Ed Birch, president and CEO of the Mosher Foundation, and his wife, Sue Birch, education program specialist with the foundation, helped develop the Mosher Center, which offers national conversations on the critical need for moral and ethical leadership, regional executive education and undergraduate leadership development.
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“We’ve become very concerned about the lack of moral and ethical leadership in government, business and the non-profit world,” Ed says. “We seek to develop leaders who can serve as role models, and what better place to do that than Westmont? We’re excited about the combination of working with students, promoting a global perspective and training existing executives." |