Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation commits $1.5 million to support need-based aid at UGA

This news release was originally published by UGA Today on October 2, 2017. Pictured above: The Home Depot co-founder Arthur M. Blank (center) with his late mother, Molly, and his brother, Michael. (Credit: The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation)

Athens, Ga. – The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation has committed $1.5 million to the University of Georgia to provide need-based aid for students in two program areas. The UGA College of Pharmacy will receive $1 million to support pharmacy students facing financial hardships. A separate $500,000 gift will be matched by the Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program and will establish five need-based scholarships benefiting UGA students from Atlanta’s historic Westside neighborhoods.

“I want to thank Arthur Blank and his family for supporting the top priority of the University of Georgia’s Commit to Georgia campaign,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “These tremendous gifts will make a difference in the lives of so many students and their families for generations to come.”

Molly and Max Blank Student Enrichment Endowment
The UGA College of Pharmacy will establish the Molly and Max Blank Student Enrichment Endowment with the $1 million gift from The Molly Blank Fund of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. The Molly Blank Fund was created in 2015 in memory of Arthur Blank’s mother, Molly (pictured above), who committed her time and resources to various community causes and organizations. Molly and her husband, Max, owned a successful pharmacy business in New York.

“We are extremely grateful to the Blank family for helping us create this endowment at the College of Pharmacy,” said Svein Øie, dean of the College of Pharmacy. “Because of the Blanks’ generosity, current and prospective pharmacy students who are experiencing hardships will receive support so that they can pursue their education and career aspirations. In turn, these students will give back to society by using their acquired knowledge to serve the health care needs of others.”

Angela and Arthur M. Blank Scholarship Fund
The Blank Foundation also is committed to creating long-term, positive transformation in Atlanta’s historic Westside neighborhoods of English Avenue, Vine City and Castleberry Hill. For more than a decade, the foundation has supported health, education, housing, civic empowerment, workforce development, youth development, parks and other initiatives in the area.

A gift of $500,000 to UGA from the Blank Foundation will create the Angela and Arthur M. Blank Scholarship Fund to support educational opportunities for students residing in the Westside communities. Three first-year students and two additional undergraduates enrolled at the university this fall have been awarded the scholarships.

“Eliminating financial barriers to high-quality education for deserving students is the kind of life-expanding opportunity that my family and our family foundation is proud to support,” said Blank. “The gift of education has the power to change one’s future, and that’s exactly what we hope these scholarships do for UGA scholars and Westside residents.”

The Blank Foundation’s $500,000 gift will be matched by an additional $500,000 from the UGA Foundation through the Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program, which was announced by Morehead in January to increase the number of need-based scholarships available at UGA. Including these five scholarships, the university has established more than 140 Georgia Commitment Scholarships to date.

Since it was formed in 1995, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation has granted more than $300 million to various charitable organizations that help transform the lives of young people and their families. Arthur Blank is the co-founder of The Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, and his portfolio of businesses includes the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, PGA TOUR Superstore, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Mountain Sky Guest Ranch, and West Creek Ranch. Angela Blank, his wife, serves as a director of the Blank Foundation, co-chair of the Walk Like MADD 5k, and a member of the UGA Board of Visitors.

The UGA College of Pharmacy
Founded in 1903, the UGA College of Pharmacy delivers high quality education, research opportunities, experiential programs and service-learning to advance the pharmacy profession and the pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences. As the largest pharmacy school in the state of Georgia, the college offers a Doctor of Pharmacy degree, along with several graduate programs and one undergraduate degree. For further information, see rx.uga.edu.

The Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program
Through the Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program, the UGA Foundation will match gifts in the amount of $50,000, $75,000, or $100,000 to establish an endowed undergraduate need-based scholarship. Learn more at give.uga.edu/georgia-commitment.

Writer: Mickey Y. Montevideo
Contact: Meghan Hauser, Dana E. Strickland