Second Duke trustee provides major gift

Jack O. Bovender Jr. and his wife, Barbara, have pledged $25 million to Duke in their wills to support the Fuqua School of Business, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences and the School of Nursing, Duke President Richard Brodhead said.

Fuqua’s Health Sector Management Program and Trinity College will each receive $10 million from the Bovenders’ estate, and the School of Nursing will receive $5 million.

“This extraordinary commitment, which ... will help ensure that Duke will continue to set the standard in educating students to tackle complex problems, such as those facing the health care industry,” Brodhead said in a statement.

The HSM Program at Fuqua is the oldest and largest health management program among top U.S. business schools. Duke has educated professionals in the administration of hospitals, health systems and health-related organizations since Duke Hospital opened in 1930.

The Trinity College of Arts & Sciences is Duke’s liberal arts undergraduate college. About 80 percent of the university’s undergraduate students are enrolled in Trinity College.

The $5 million gift to the School of Nursing is made in honor of Barbara Bovender, who was a head nurse at Duke University Hospital when she and her husband married, as well as in honor of his mother, brother and daughter-in-law, who are all registered nurses.

Jack Bovender earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Duke in 1967 and a master’s degree in hospital administration in 1969. He worked in the health care industry for 40 years before retiring in 2009 as chair and chief executive officer of Hospital Corp. of America, which owns and operates 164 hospitals and 106 freestanding surgery centers in the U.S. and U.K.

“It’s rare for a single university to be able to offer a world-class education in the liberal arts, in business and in the delivery of quality health care," he said in a statement. "Supporting Duke through this bequest is a way to give back to the university that provided me with such a strong educational foundation."

On Monday, Duke announced a $50 million donation from trustee Bruce Karsh for undergraduate financial aid.