10 Million To The University Of Iowa example essay topic

John Pappajohn was born July 31, 1928 in St. Luke " 's Greece to George and Maria Pappajohn. His father was a U.S. citizen and thus he is a U.S. citizen by birthright. He immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 9 months with his mother and they joined his father in Mason City. Iowa.

In 1961, he married Mary L. Limber is of Minneapolis, Minnesota and the two of them have a daughter, Ann Pappajohn, who resides in New York. Mr. Pappajohn attended Mason City public schools and then attended the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, and received a bachelor's degree in business in 1952. Upon graduation from college, he started his own insurance business. In 1962, he moved to Des Moines and organized the Guardsman Life Insurance Company.

He was Chairman of the Board of Guardsman Insurance from 1962 to 1969, at which time he sold his interest and dedicated himself full time to venture capital investments. He organized Equity Dynamics Inc. in 1969 and continues as its President today. He also organized Pappajohn Capital Resources (a venture capital fund) in 1969. Pappajohn Capital Resources is well known on Wall Street as a venture capital fund primarily investing in high tech, medical and healthcare projects.

He has over 35 portfolio companies in his fund and has averaged over 68% annual return on investments for over 25 years. At the present time, he serves as director on the following company Boards: Radio logix, Inc., Dallas, TX PACE Health Systems Inc., Des Moines, IAA llion Healthcare, Inc., Huntington Station, NYLogisticare, Atlanta, GA Patient Infosystems, Inc., Rochester, NYM C Informatics, Inc., Irvine, CA. He has served as director in over 40 public companies and also serves as a director for many private companies. He is a member of many professional organizations including The Society of Financial Analysts, Association for Corporate Growth, National Association of Corporate Directors and the Association for Investment Management and Research.

He was a Horatio Alger Award recipient in 1995 and serves as a member of the Board of Directors and on the Executive Committee for the Horatio Alger Association. He also is on the Board of Trustees for Anatolia College in Thessaloniki, Greece, the University of Iowa Foundation Board of Trustees, Iowa City, IA., and formerly a Trustee for Pine Manor College, Chestnut Hill, MA. He was named Iowa Business Leader of the Year in 1992 and was inducted into the Iowa Business Hall of Fame in 1996. He served as a member of the Advisory Board for the J.F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C. He was initially appointed by President Ronald Reagan and re-appointed by President George Bush. He presently serves on the National Committee of the Performing Arts, Kennedy Center Board and is it Vice President.

He serves on the Leadership 100 Board of Directors. He was a member of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Council and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Executive Committee in 1997. He received the Brotherhood Award from the Iowa Region of the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1997. He was the recipient of the Hellenic Heritage Achievement Award in 1997. He received the Beta Gamma Sigma Medallion for Entrepreneur of the Year in 1997. In 1998 he was awarded the Meredith Wilson Heritage Award.

He is an Honorary Trustee for Des Moines Art Center, on the Collectors Committee, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C and Collectors Committee, Whitney Museum, New York City. John and Mary Pappajohnare listed as one the Top 200 art collectors in the world by Art NewsMagazine. He is a member of The University of Iowa Alumni Association, The University of Iowa President's Club, Des Moines Club, Embassy Club, University Athletic Club, Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity, Order of A HEPA, a 32nd Degree Mason, Scottish Rite, and the ZaGaZig Shrine. He and his wife, Mary, are major contributors to many philanthropic causes.

They have contributed approximately $10 million to the University of Iowa to help fund the Pappajohn Business Administration Building, the PappajohnPavilion (part of the University of Iowa Hospital complex), and the John and Mary Pappajohn Cancer Center at the University of Iowa hospitals. Recently, he funded the Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Centers at five colleges in the state of Iowa for approximately $5 million. In 1997 he announced a$5 million Scholarship Fund for ethnic, disadvantaged and minority students.