NSU Horizons Spring 2018

12 NSU HORIZONS by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) in October 2017, and an inaugural class of 50 students will matriculate in August 2018. NSU MD will also serve as an anchor for NSU’s planned Academical Village, which will include a more-than-200-bed teaching and research hos- pital, specialized medical facilities, and hospitality services in close proximity to the university’s classrooms and its Center for Collaborative Research. “This gift will help attract the best and brightest medical students who have the potential to develop as physician leaders and will elevate NSU’s reputation as a top-tier research university,” said Johannes W. Vieweg, M.D., FACS, founding dean of the college. “Our medical school is built on a partnership model, and we are pleased to join forces with the Patels to transform the delivery of health care in our com- munity and beyond. This will further our mission of advanc- ing human health through innovation in medical education, research, patient care, and community engagement.” LEAD GIFTS THAT PAVED THE WAY In 2008, two lead gifts, both in excess of $10 million, provided the spark necessary to undertake this historic campaign. The first came from the late H. Wayne Huizenga and his late wife, Marti, made through the Huizenga Family Foundation. The second came from the late Don Taft, through the Don Taft Family Foundation. Huizenga, an entrepreneur whose business acumen and sales skills built three Fortune 500 companies and who is responsible for six New York Stock Exchange-listed compa- nies, had a vision for providing cutting-edge education to shape the next generation of business professionals. With his gift, he became the benefactor to one of the nation’s few business schools with entrepreneurship in its name— the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepre- neurship. Currently, more than 3,500 students are enrolled in its bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. The college offers flexible M.B.A. program options with several special- ized concentrations. Don Taft was a retired senior executive whose business expertise was applied to a range of industries including wholesale, retail, entertainment, manufacturing, and distribution. He gave generously, not only through philan- thropy, but also by dedicating his time and counsel. His vision was to create facilities where students and athletes could collaborate, compete, and share. Today, this vision is a reality. NSU is the only private college in the nation to have The campaign was helped past its goal with a donation from chairman of NSU’s Board of Trustees Ron Assaf and his wife, Kathy. As a result of the gift, the newly renamed Ron and Kathy Assaf College of Nursing will be able to expand the scope and scale of its training programs.