The IU-Bloomington College of Arts and Sciences recently received a $6 million gift from Ralph Collins Walter, an IU alumnus and Los Angeles-based investment analyst and economist.
The gift will be used to endow two new faculty chairs, create new scholarships for internships and will rename the Arts and Sciences Career Services to the Walter Center for Career Achievement.
Half of the gift will endow two chairs: one in the Department of History and one in the Department of Economics, according to a Monday press release.
The other half of the gift will create scholarships to help students get internships. The scholarships will be worth up to $5,000 each and will give students money for travel, tuition and living expenses while they are interning.
The gift is a part of For All: The Indiana University Bicentennial Campaign. It’s a $2.5 billion campaign, run by the IU Foundation.
In the press release, Walter said he feels it’s his obligation to help others have the same opportunities he had.
“Students must realize that being a student is having a job,” Walter said. “You have to learn how to learn. You have to acquire the skills that allow you to get your first job but also the skills that will allow you to have a meaningful career.”
Walter graduated from IU-Bloomington in 1972 with a master’s degree in economics. In 2014, he went on to receive a master’s degree in literature and arts from the University of Oxford.
He was the chief operating officer and treasurer for Kayne Anderson Rudnick, an investment management firm. Walter has also worked on numerous nonprofit boards and committees, including the IU College of Arts and Sciences Executive Dean’s Advisory Board.
Joe Lovejoy is the director of the Walter Center for Career Achievement. According to the release, Lovejoy said Walter’s gift represents a commitment to the career success of graduates at the IU College of Arts and Sciences.
IU President Michael McRobbie said the gift will have an extensive impact on the College of Arts and Sciences, according to the press release.
“His exceptional generosity and commitment to strengthening our academic environment are truly inspiring, as are his vision for the Walter Center and the ways in which it will prepare IU graduates for successful and rewarding careers,” McRobbie said.
Laurel Demkovich
