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Thanks to a $10 million gift from an alum and his wife, Georgetown University will now be able to launch its very own nonpartisan center within the McCourt School of Public Policy.
Georgetown announced the donation from Patricia and Jon M. Baker Sr. (C'64), the founder, chair and CEO of global life insurance broker International Planning Group, Tuesday, revealing that the new nonpartisan center will be named in honor of its funders as The Baker Center for Leadership and Governance.
The Center will provide an environment for open policy dialogue about important issues affecting the global economy, with a goal of developing unique, forward-thinking, actionable policy solutions that "cut across boundaries."
According to the university, The Baker Center for Leadership and Governance will also serve as host of The Baker Forum, an annual event calling on academic, business, government and nonprofit leaders from across the world to discuss intricate and complex policy issues in one place at one time.
"The Baker Forum is designed to attract an agenda-setting group of experts who will come up with tangible policy solutions, informed by research, to some of our world's most critical challenges," said Edward Montgomery, dean of the McCourt School of Public Policy. "The Baker Center will support the development and promotion of leadership that cuts across sectors and party lines."
As for why Baker decided to make a $10 million gift to his alma mater, he said he was inspired by the $100 million donation from Frank McCourt to create the McCourt School of Public Policy.
"Georgetown is uniquely positioned to leverage its brand, values, principles and successes to transform how policy issues are debated," said Baker.
As alums continue to give back to Georgetown, it seems as if the direction the university wants to go in is clear. Georgetown is leveraging its assets to create a more robust research center and environment for roundtable discussions about the most pressing challenges facing society today.
Source : http://inthecapital.streetwise.co/2014/10/07/georgetown-10m-donation-to-establish-the-baker-center-for-leadership-and-governance/
