Loyola University Maryland receives $5M naming gift for innovation center
Loyola University Maryland has received a donation to secure naming rights for its forthcoming Center for Innovation and Collaborative Learning.
Miguel “Mike” and Constance Fernandez and the Fernandez Family Foundation gave the university $5 million to name the center, which will include classrooms, an “idea lab,” an expanded career center and space for faculty.
The $40 million center will be named for the Fernandez family, though its precise name has not been set, Stephanie Weaver, a spokeswoman for the university, said.
A 35,000-square-foot addition to Beatty Hall on the university’s Evergreen campus in North Baltimore, the center will double the size of the existing building. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2020.
Mike Fernandez, CEO, founder and chairman of MBF Healthcare Partners, is a member of Loyola’s board of trustees. He delivered the Jesuit university’s 2018 commencement address.
Fernandez is a Florida resident. He and his family were deported from Cuba to Mexico in 1964 and later relocated to New York City, where he attended a Jesuit high school.
“The Jesuit principles are the foundation and formation of who I am today,” Fernandez said in a statement. “I am inspired by the Jesuit ideal of ‘living for and with others.’ I hope future first-generation students at Loyola are inspired when they see an immigrant’s name on a campus building and know the impact they themselves can have on others in the future.”
University President Rev. Brian F. Linnane thanked the Fernandez family in a statement.
“This generous gift will truly make it possible for Loyola to inspire demand and continue to enhance the total education we deliver to each and every one of our students,” he said in a statement.