By Catholic News Service • Posted April 26, 2016

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Here is a roundup of news related to Catholic universities:

Catholic University received $47 million for business school, academic programs

With gifts totaling $47 million, including $15 million from the Busch Family Foundation, The Catholic University of America in Washington said it marks the largest financial commitment the university has ever received.

Catholic University’s business and economic school will be renamed the Tim and Steph Busch School for Business and Economics. Tim Busch is founder and CEO of the Pacific Hospitality Group and the Busch Firm, both based in Irvine, California. He is also co-founder and chairman of the board of the Napa Institute, also in California, and is wrapping up 12 years of service on Catholic University’s board of trustees this year.

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The Busch gift will be allocated to the renovation of Maloney Hall, where the business and economics school will be relocated.

Other sizable gifts to Catholic University making the $47 million total include $10 million from the Arthur and Carlyse Ciocca Charitable Foundation, which includes the establishment of the Arthur and Carlyse Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship; $10 million from the Charles Koch Foundation; $5 million from Catholic University alumnus Joe Della Ratta, the current benefactor of the Centesimus Annus Della Ratta Family Endowed Professorship; $5 million from an anonymous donor; and $2 million from the Blanford Charitable Gift Fund.

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Seton Hall alumnus donates $5 million to alma mater

Patrick Murray, a graduate of Seton Hall University, and his wife Mary Ann Pfaff Murray have made a $5 million donation to the school in South Orange, New Jersey. The university, in an April 5 announcement of the gift, called it one of the largest donations the university has ever received.

The donation will be used to establish merit- and need-based scholarships for students, to endow a faculty chair in Seton Hall’s business school, and to fund renovations to athletic facilities.

With the donation, the scholarship program, the endowed faculty chair in business and the Leadership Forum for Student-Athletes will be named in their honor.

Pat Murray, who is chair of Seton Hall’s board of regents, retired as chairman and CEO of Dresser Inc. in 2007. Dresser is a leading manufacturer and marketer of highly engineered equipment for the energy industry. Previously, he was president of Halliburton Co.’s Dresser Equipment Group, and senior vice president for strategic initiatives of Dresser Industries.

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DeGioia to chair board of American Council on Education

John J. DeGioia, president of Georgetown University in Washington, was elected to the chairmanship of the American Council on Education’s board of directors in March.

DeGioia, who has been the Jesuit-run university’s president since 2001, took over the post immediately upon his election.

He currently serves as the chair of the board of directors of the Forum for the Future of Higher Education and as a member of the board of trustees of the Executive Committee of the Council on Competitiveness. He also serves as a board member of the Carnegie Corp. and as a commissioner on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.

Under DeGioia’s leadership, Georgetown surpassed a $1.5 billion fundraising goal in its recent campaign dedicated to enhancing the lifelong value of a Georgetown education.

Prior to becoming Georgetown’s president, DeGioia served as a senior administrator and a faculty member in the Department of Philosophy.