IPFW receives record gift

FORT WAYNE. -- A businessman has donated $3 million to IU-Purdue University's Fort Wayne campus, the largest gift in the school's 40-year history.\nThe gift from businessman Don Willis will be used for scholarships and the establishment of a new endowed chair in entrepreneurship, IPFW officials said.\nWillis is founder and chairman of Fourth Wave and the former Command Systems Inc., which developed network technology for military, security and industrial purposes. Willis is also the first entrepreneur in residence at IPFW's School of Business and Management Science.\nIn appreciation of the gift, IPFW Chancellor Michael Wartell dedicated the campus' new 247-foot walkway across Crescent Avenue as the Willis Family Bridge on Tuesday.\nThe bridge will connect the academic and athletics section of the campus to student housing scheduled to open next fall. The bridge's supports rise 104 feet above the street.\nWartell said the $2.2 million walkway is a symbol of change for the university and its future.\n"In that connection there is power, economic development, growth and education," he said.