$1 million gift benefits Missouri Southern’s new Health Science Innovation Center

JOPLIN, Mo.– The Kent D. & Mary L. Steadley Trust Bank of America Trustees have awarded Missouri Southern State University $1 million to benefit the school’s new Health Science Innovation Center.

The transformational gift will have an enormous impact on the new center and the Lions Forward Campaign, which was initiated in 2022 to raise money to benefit the students and the infrastructure of the university. Since July 1, 2022, the Lions Forward fundraising campaign has received 99 gifts of $25,000 or more.

The gift was publicly announced to faculty and staff Thursday at a welcome back event to kick off the fall semester.

“We are fortunate and thankful the trustees have chosen to invest in our Health Science Innovation Center – a transformational project for MSSU and its students,” Missouri Southern President Dean Van Galen said. “The Steadley Trust has a fantastic reputation for supporting education throughout the region, and we are proud to have the family’s name associated with our university.”

The Steadley Trust was created in 1953 to benefit charitable and educational institutions in Southwest Missouri and has positively impacted the region for 70 years.