Pam and Jack Cumming, current Bentley parents, have presented a generous $1.125 million gift to Bentley University to support programs focused on developing leadership skills in young women.
The majority of the funding will be used to create innovative leadership initiatives for female undergraduate students. A steering committee including Bentley President Gloria Cordes Larson and Pam Cumming will review ideas from the Bentley community ranging from initiatives in service-learning to residence life and other co-curricular areas, as well as programs with student organizations and intercollegiate athletics.
The effort will cover topics such as developing the confidence to take risks and champion ideas; learning to balance all aspects of personal and professional life; and increasing women’s presence as executive officers and corporate directors. Programs targeted toward male students will promote a deeper understanding and support for the development of women as peers and leaders.
The Academic Affairs team will identify curricular elements in women’s leadership education including philanthropy and service, as well as develop strategies to attract promising female applicants to the Bentley University undergraduate program. The gift from the Cumming family will also fund scholarships for incoming female students.
“This gift was driven by our passion to give young women the tools to compete on a level playing field with men,” explains Mr. Cumming, whose daughter is a sophomore and son enters Bentley in fall 2010. “We want to give women the chance to break the glass ceiling.”
“We want to help students confront these issues with self-confidence,” notes Gloria Cordes Larson, the first female president of Bentley. “This type of preparation will enable all of our students to be more successful in addressing the vexing problems that face society and business.”
A number of people at Bentley collaborated with Jack and Pam Cumming to further their vision including John Sims, leadership gifts officer, John Mosser, vice president for university advancement, and Gibbons Professor of Finance Roy A. (Chip) Wiggins, who worked with the family last year to help fund the establishment of a microfinance organization whose clients include underserved women.
“As this gift shows, philanthropy is a tremendous tool for addressing social problems, changing the world, and making a difference,” says Mosser. “We want our students to learn about the impact their philanthropy can have on issues that matter to them.”
Over the years, the Cumming family have supported many initiatives to empower young women, including launching a Distinguished Women in International Affairs series at George Washington University, where their eldest daughter is a senior.
“In a world that is still very much male-dominated, women need to use everything they have to succeed,” says Pam Cumming. “We need to provide tools that will work for them in the professional world, and we need to start early.”
Pam and Jack Cumming are both executives at Hologic Inc., a leading company focused on women’s health care needs; he serves as chairman; she, as vice president for marketing.