St. Thomas University (STU) alumnus John J. Dooner, Jr. ’70 has given $1.1 million to his alma mater, STU President David A. Armstrong, J.D., announced today. The gift will be used to help cover construction expenses related to the new Gus A. Machado College of Business building on STU’s Miami Gardens campus.
“Words cannot express how grateful I, and the entire St. Thomas University community, feel today,” President Armstrong said. “We are truly blessed to have John Dooner as an alumnus. His generosity, dedication, and contributions to STU are unparalleled. This transformational gift allows STU to provide a state-of-the-art facility for our Machado College of Business students, and will help us retain current students, and recruit even more future students, as the university continues to grow enrollment, increase program quality, and further improve our academic reputation.”
Dooner, who currently serves as the Chairman of STU’s Board of Trustees, is Chairman Emeritus of McCann Worldgroup, the global agency group he launched in 1997 that today is one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing marketing services organizations. He and his wife Cindy reside in Jupiter, Florida, and New Rochelle, New York. His gift makes him the largest alumni donor in the university’s history, and comes on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his graduation from STU.
“St. Thomas University provided me with the academic, spiritual and ethical foundation that led to my success in business,” Dooner said. “Given everything that is happening in the world today, I believe strongly that Catholic higher education and St. Thomas University are needed now more than ever to produce ethical leaders. I am blessed to be in a position to give back to my alma mater, and am happy to do so. I know that the leadership at St. Thomas will be good stewards of this gift, and that it will have a lasting impact on the university and its students.”
STU broke ground on the new Machado College of Business building in January 2019. The new building was needed to accommodate increased enrollment in high market-demand programs, including Cyber Security Management, Accounting, Finance, International Business, Fashion Merchandising and Marketing. This complex boasts an open-air design flow with a trading floor, global conference auditorium, video telecast room and a sky bridge. It is expected to open for in-class instruction next month.
