Mount St. Mary’s University President Dr. Timothy E. Trainor announced Feb. 14 that the Bolte Family Foundation will donate $3 million to help expand and renovate the Knott Academic Center, home to the Richard J. Bolte, Sr. School of Business.
“My brothers and I, through the Bolte Family Foundation, wanted to recommit to the Bolte School in honor of our father,” said Frank Bolte, in a Feb. 14 news release. “Our father inspired us in our business to be committed to our people and to higher education. Our company’s culture emphasized community service and had a family feel, just like being at the Mount.”
Richard J. Bolte Sr., founder of BDP International, a global logistics and transportation company, was a lifelong supporter of the Mount, serving on the university’s board of trustees and receiving an honorary doctorate degree for his service to the university in 1992, according to the news release. All seven of Bolte’s sons attended the Mount: Richard Bolte Jr., trustee emeritus; John Bolte; Tim Bolte, trustee; Frank Bolte; Mike Connors; Bill Connors; and Rob Bolte.
The Bolte and Connors families in 2011 recognized their father, who died in 2006, with a gift to name the Richard J. Bolte, Sr. School of Business. The family sold BDP in late 2018.
“Mount St. Mary’s deeply appreciates the Bolte family’s devotion to their father’s legacy and investment in the Mount,” Trainor said in the news release. “The Mount is experiencing student enrollment growth and academic program expansion, and this gift will assist us in creating additional classrooms, conference rooms and faculty offices as well as a Bloomberg Classroom Laboratory. The addition and renovation will also allow the Mount to develop more partnerships in areas such as logistics and forensic accounting to further our mission of creating ethical leaders who lead lives of significance.”
The $7.5 million Knott Academic Center expansion and renovation project is also expected to be supported by a more than $3 million capital grant from the state of Maryland. The project includes construction of an approximately 12,140-square foot addition and renovation of the 49,074-square-foot existing building. According to Mount St. Mary’s, work will commence this summer and is anticipated to be completed by Fall 2021. The upgrade will include enhancing the learning environment and building new classrooms, a Bloomberg Classroom Laboratory and faculty offices.
Marotta/Main Architects, based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, designed the addition and renovation plan.
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