Gunderson estate donates 3 point 8 million gift to USD Foundation
The donation will provide scholarships and teaching endowments, including the Harvey and Alwayne Gunderson Art Scholarship Endowment of $1.8 million to provide scholarships for art students; the Harvey and Alwayne Gunderson Teaching Endowment, a $1 million gift to provide general teaching support at The U; and the Harvey J. and Alwayne B. Gunderson Law Teaching Endowment of $1 million to the Law School Foundation.
"The Gunderson's gift is a significant endorsement of the art department," stated Dan Guyette, dean of the College of Fine Arts. "Their generosity will benefit several generations of art students at USD and we are certainly very grateful for their support."
Barry Vickrey, dean of the Law School, also stated his appreciation for the Gundersons and their support. "This gift will greatly enhance Law School instruction. The primary use will be to augment our instruction in legal writing, a fundamental skill. It will also allow us to bring in more adjuncts to teach specialized courses of interest to students. All our students, well into the future, will benefit from the Gundersons' generosity."
Harvey J. Gunderson grew up in Vermillion, the son of Andrew Gunderson, a local attorney, while Alwayne (Burkhart) Gunderson graduated from high school in Holstein, Iowa. Even though neither earned their degree from The U, the couple met when both were students at USD. Harvey eventually received a law degree from the University of Michigan in 1930 and became counsel for the Federal Reconstruction Finance Corporation in 1932. He would later serve as director of that organization until 1942 when he was chief of stockpiling and shipping of the Army Service Forces during World War II. In 1950, he entered private practice in a Washington, D.C. law firm with Garrett Fuller, a 1941 graduate of USD. A recipient of the first annual Alumni Achievement Awards at USD in 1970, Harvey died in 1989. Alwayne, who lived for many years in St. Petersburg, Fla., shared her husband’s fondness for the arts. She died in 2007.
More information about this gift or endowments to the USD Foundation is available at this Web site: www.usd.edu/foundation/ or please contact the USD Foundation Office at (605) 677-6703.
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