Alumni Leave Legacy With Sculpture, Endowed Chair
Morris alumni Drs. Puncky Heppner '73 and Mary Soehren Heppner '76 have a distinct, personal understanding of the transformative power of quality education and multidimensional experiences.
They come from rural Midwestern backgrounds. Both were the first in their families to graduate from college nearly five decades ago when they attended University of Minnesota Morris. It became the springboard for their lives and careers, rich in diversity, mentoring and servant leadership.
The Heppners recently committed a future gift to the Morris campus for an endowed chair in multicultural psychology. The first endowed chair at UMN Morris is for a distinguished faculty member who will provide leadership to enhance current research, teaching and programming to prepare students for the diverse world.
The couple's history of philanthropy with the Morris campus includes the donation of the Nokoomis Nibii Equay sculpture installed in the summer of 2018.
"We learned so much from UMN Morris and it helped propel us into meaningful careers. We wanted to give back in several significant ways," the Heppners said.
Creating an endowment to attract and retain a faculty member with a highly distinguished career that emphasizes multicultural and cross-cultural psychology can impact the lives of students and faculty across disciplines.
"Long after we're gone, students will hopefully benefit from this investment and they will do amazing work that will ripple out into the world in different ways," Mary explained.
Like the Heppners, you can leave a legacy at UMN Morris that benefits students now and long into the future with a gift in your estate plan. Contact Susan Schmidgall, CDO, at 320-589-6160 or sschmidg@morris.umn.edu to learn more.
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