University of New England

UNE awarded $300,000 to fund College of Pharmacy

BIDDEFORD/ PORTLAND - The University of New England was recently awarded grants from the Libra Foundation and the Betterment Fund totaling $300,000 to fund the new College of Pharmacy to be located on the University's Westbrook College Campus in Portland.

The Libra Foundation awarded the University $200,000 to go toward capital costs for the new College of Pharmacy's four-year Pharm.D. graduate program. In addition, the University was recently notified that it would be awarded a $100,000 grant from the Betterment Fund to establish an endowed scholarship for College of Pharmacy graduate students.

"These funds provide much needed support for the start of a College of Pharmacy at UNE," said President Danielle Ripich. "The gifts also demonstrate that these prestigious foundations recognize the importance of this new college to the region.  We are honored to have been selected as recipients of their awards."

UNE's pre-pharmacy program, located on the University Campus in Biddeford, was overwhelmed with applications and is currently full for the fall 2007 term with more than 50 students registered. The four-year Pharm.D. graduate program, located on the Westbrook College Campus in Portland, is on schedule to open in 2009. The State Board of Education will meet later this summer to approve UNE's plan to offer these degrees. In addition, the College is moving forward in the accreditation process with final application materials due in May of 2008.

College of Pharmacy Dean John Cormier said, "The College of Pharmacy at the University of New England's Westbrook College Campus in Portland has entered the critical phase of its implementation with a variety of tasks evolving simultaneously. Essential to our readiness to enroll our first class of Doctor of Pharmacy students in the Fall of 2009 are the rigorous process of national accreditation, the recruitment of teaching and research faculty, as well as the design and construction of a facility suitable for teaching and learning to occur and an environment conducive to conducting scientific research."  He added, "It is largely through the generous support of such organizations as the Libra Foundation and the Betterment Fund that the University will sustain its momentum in bringing this program to fruition."

Libra Foundation
The Libra Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation created by Elizabeth Noyce in 1989. The Foundation has made significant contributions to worthy causes throughout the state of Maine, embracing the sense of proportion and fairness defined by its name, by maintaining a balance and diversity of giving throughout Maine and across all populations. Traditionally, small grants are given to many organizations as opposed to large grants to only a few. Areas of giving include arts, culture and humanities, education, environment, health, human services, justice, public/society benefit and religion.

The Libra Foundation is a long-time supporter of the University of New England, most recently giving $1 million to support the UNEqualed Vision Campaign's renovation of the Westbrook College Campus. 

Betterment Fund
The Betterment Fund was created in the will of William Bingham, II, a resident of Bethel, Maine, who died in 1955. Mr. Bingham was a self-effacing philanthropist with an abiding interest in education and the improvement of health services in the state of Maine. Since Mr. Bingham's death, the Betterment Fund has established scholarship funds in his memory at several Maine colleges with scholarship award preference to be given to residents of Bethel, Oxford County and the state of Maine in that order of priority.

The Betterment Fund makes grants exclusively to benefit the residents of the state of Maine. Priority in funding is generally given to proposals seeking to impact the more rural parts of Maine.

The Betterment Fund has funded three other endowed scholarships at UNE.

(Press release posted July 2, 2007)