By Carla Carlton 

 

The following eight endowed scholarship funds announced at the annual Heritage Society Brunch on April 10, 2022, will benefit students now and yet to come. The Heritage Society comprises alumni and friends who have made outright gifts or included Bellarmine in their estate plans. To contribute to these funds or to start a new one, contact Marisa Zoeller, director of Donor Relations, at mzoeller@bellarmine.edu or 502.272.8335. For further information, visit the Planned Giving website and click on The Heritage Society or Endowed Scholarships. 

 

 

 

Since 2008, Don Berg has been a member of Bellarmine’s Board of Trustees, including a time as co-chair. He was co-chair of the presidential search committee that resulted in the hiring of Susan M. Donovan, Ph.D., and a member of the search committee that selected Daniel Frockt as the university’s new vice president for Finance. 

 

After 26 years with Brown-Forman Corp., from which he retired in 2014 as executive vice president and chief financial officer, he is now president of DCB Advisory Services, which provides consulting services to food and beverage companies.  

 

But he and his wife, Fran Berg, remember their humble starts as first-generation college students. The Fran and Don Berg Endowed Scholarship will cover tuition for a sophomore student who demonstrates financial need. “We know how hard it can be to pay for college,” Don Berg said, “and we hope this scholarship will help others fulfill their dreams as well.” 

 

 

Kevin Brown’s 35 years in corporate finance took him to some interesting places. After graduating from Bellarmine with a degree in Economics, he spent 16 years at Ford Motor Company, including three years in Lisbon, Portugal, and several years in Cologne, Germany. 

 

He also held positions at Donnelly Corporation, Harman International and Aleris International. He retired from Ports America, the United States’ largest seaport operator, In 2018 after eight years as EVP and CFO. 

 

He and wife Marcella created the Kevin L. ’84 & Marcella Brown Endowed Study Abroad Fund to provide financial support for undergraduate or graduate students in the W. Fielding Rubel School of Business to engage in international and intercultural academic experiences. 

 

“Marcella and I were lucky enough to travel the world,” said Brown, a member of the School of Business Executive Board. “We always agreed that everyone should have these types of experiences, especially someone who wants to work in a multinational business.” 

 

 

 

Led by classmates Mike Hobbs, Tom Thomas and Mike Lally, the class handily surpassed the $50,000 needed to name and endow a scholarship. Recipients will be first-year students who demonstrate financial need, with preference given to first-generation students. 

 

“Success starts from a great educational foundation, and from there it’s hard work and some luck. Many of my 1971 classmates followed this recipe, and like me, they consider our BU education a part of the foundation of our success,” said Hobbs, who also has an MBA from Bellarmine and serves on the Board of Trustees. “Reaching out to classmates to ask for their help was an unexpected trip down memory lane, and the generosity of our class is another testament to BU.” 

 

 

 

The Rev. Clyde F. Crews, Ph.D., a 1966 Bellarmine graduate, served in numerous roles in his long career at the university, including historian-in-residence, director of the Merton Center, chairman of the Theology Department, academic dean and archival coordinator. 

 

He was Alumnus of the Year for 1975-76 and is a member of the Gallery of Distinguished Graduates. He’s also a noted author. But he is perhaps most remembered as a beloved Bellarmine professor for 34 years. Now, he will be remembered at Bellarmine in yet another way: An anonymous group of donors has created an endowed scholarship in his name. 

 

The Fr. Clyde Crews ’66 Endowed Scholarship will help a Louisville Century Scholar. The Century Scholars program, which is open to qualified applicants from Butler, Central, Doss, Iroquois, Seneca, The Academy @ Shawnee, Waggener and Western high schools, reflects Bellarmine’s commitment to access and affordability. 

 

“I’ve usually got lots of words, but I was kind of speechless,” Fr. Crews said of his reaction to the scholarship. “I am profoundly grateful when I think of all the good it can do. It’s good to be remembered!” 

 

 

 

Innes Mather ’69 says he owes his successful career in accounting and business to Bellarmine—particularly one faculty member, John Finnegan. 

 

After transferring to Bellarmine, Mather discovered he had an affinity for accounting. With a temporary deferment from the Army, he needed to complete his degree in two years. “I talked to Mr. Finnegan after my Principles of Accounting class, and he said he would help me,” Mather said. “He tutored me.” 

 

Mather graduated with honors and passed the Certified Public Accounting exam on his first attempt. A few years later he founded Mather & Co. CPAs in Louisville. 

 

Now he has created an endowed fund to give future accounting students a boost. The name of the scholarship memorializes Innes and Rose Mather’s son Stephen Mather, a tennis pro at the Tennis Club at Springhurst and member of the Kentucky Tennis Hall of Fame who passed away in 2005 at age 35. 

 

 

 

Margie Samuels was an innovator in the bourbon industry. While her husband, Bill Samuels, created Maker’s Mark bourbon, she was responsible for everything else that made the brand ubiquitous. 

 

A collector of fine pewter, she suggested the bourbon’s name as a reflection of the mark that pewter makers etched onto every piece. The bottle shape and the iconic red wax-dipped top were also her ideas. 

 

Maker’s Mark CEO Rob Samuels, the eighth generation of this bourbon-making family, is very proud of his grandmother. He’s investing in future women innovators by establishing the Margie Samuels Endowed Scholarship for female entrepreneurs at the junior, senior or graduate level in any program within the School of Business. 

 

Maker’s Mark and Rob Samuels, a member of the Rubel School’s Executive Board, funded the scholarship by transferring funds from the sale of a Margie Samuels commemorative bottle. (Rob’s father, Maker’s Mark Chairman Emeritus Bill Samuels Jr. ’11 HON, is a Bellarmine Trustee Emeritus.) 

 

“It’s my grandmother’s pioneering spirit we want to carry forward with Bellarmine’s Women of Color Entrepreneurs program,” Rob Samuels said, “so women in this program can leave their own unique marks in the communities where they live and serve.” 

 

 

 

Bellarmine alumnus and Trustee Leonard M. Spalding Jr. ’59 and his wife, Susan Spalding, are longtime supporters of the university. Len Spalding credits his strong undergraduate education as the foundation of his successful business career. 

 

The couple met in Chicago, where he worked at Northern Trust and then Kemper Mutual Funds, and she was director of Northern Trust Co.’s New York and East Coast Corporate Client Servicing Unit. After four years, Len became president and CEO of the Chase Global Mutual Funds Corp., which is now part of JP Morgan Funds, and the Spaldings moved to New York. 

 

Following their retirements, the couple returned to Len’s hometown of Springfield, Ky., where they have pursued many commercial and philanthropic interests. In October 2000, Len joined Bellarmine’s Board of Trustees. He is now a Trustee Emeritus. 

 

He was inducted into the Gallery of Distinguished Graduates in 1993 and was named Alumnus of the Year in 2000. In 2009, he was dubbed Bellarmine’s Knight of Knights, and in 2017, he and Susan received an Honorary Degree. 

 

In 2007, the Spaldings became charter members of the Visionaries, a group whose planned gifts will be transformational for the university. 

 

They have now created the Len and Susan Spalding Endowed International Travel Support fund, which will allow an undergraduate student in the W. Fielding Rubel School of Business to have international and intercultural academic experiences. 

 

“Len is interested in attracting students who will be great future leaders in American business,” Susan Spalding said. “This sounded like a good match for us.” 

 

 

 

This scholarship, intended for first-year pre-nursing students who demonstrate financial need, is named after a Butler High School graduate who died in a collision with an intoxicated driver the spring before she was to begin her nursing studies at Bellarmine. The funds were raised in a community effort led by Dana Willett-Maier, who, like Madelynn Troutt, had been a cheerleader at Butler. Read more in this news story.