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Profiles in Giving: Intercollegiate Athletics
Terry and Susan Mulligan |
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From one letterwinner to the next, a gift of education and Hawkeye pride Terry Mulligan gave his all to The University of Iowa as a Hawkeye football player in the 1960s. Now he and his wife, fellow UI graduate Susan Mulligan, are giving even more so young people can receive a UI education and represent Iowa on the football field. The Mulligans, who live in Bonita Springs, Florida, and Lake Forest, Illinois, have a long history with the UI. Thanks to their service to their alma mater -- including a $125,000 gift through the UI Foundation establishing the endowed Terry and Susan Mulligan Football Scholarship -- they will have an impact far into the future as well. "Very seldom can anyone do something that's a 'forever thing' during their life," Terry said, speaking of the Mulligan Scholarship. "We wanted to take the opportunity now to help the Hawkeyes stay vibrant and healthy, and we look forward to following the lives and careers of the student-athletes who receive our scholarship." Terry, a three-time letterwinner who earned a B.S. degree in secondary education from Iowa in 1968, started at defensive end for the Hawkeyes in 1964, 1965, and 1966. Susan earned a B.A. degree in political science from the UI in 1967. Their UI family ties are extensive. Terry's great-grandfather and grandfather were UI law school alumni. Both of his and Susan's sons are UI graduates: Dan Mulligan, of Morristown, N.J., earned a UI law degree in 1996, graduating with high distinction, and Jim Mulligan (1996 B.A.), of Urbandale, Iowa, was captain of the Hawkeye swim team, winning All-American honors. Jim Mulligan's wife, Tasha Reents Mulligan (1997 B.S., 1999 M.P.T.), was an All-American on the UI softball team. That deep connection to the University has led to many years of helping the University excel academically as well as athletically. Terry was an assistant coach for the UI freshman football team in 1967. The UI presented him with its Distinguished Alumni Award in 2001, and he served on the UI Alumni Association's board of directors for seven years, including two as chairman. He is a member of the UI Henry B. Tippie College of Business Board of Visitors and both he and Susan are members of The Presidents Club, which recognizes the UI's most generous contributors. UI Head Football Coach Kirk Ferentz said the Mulligan Scholarship -- made as part of the Hawkeye Visions Endowment Program, which seeks to endow all UI athletics scholarships -- will be an important part of the Hawkeyes' future success. "Terry and Susan's faith in our program will benefit Hawkeye student-athletes for generations," Ferentz said. "Their scholarship will help the UI stay competitive against the nation's top programs." Terry and Susan cited their deep respect for the UI and the Iowa Hawkeye football program in their decision to create the scholarship. They noted that Terry -- who retired in 1996 as group vice president of medical-supplies company Baxter International and is now vice chairman of MedAssets, a worldwide healthcare-services provider -- was able to attend both private high school and the UI because of scholarships. The couple has hoped to pay back that generosity ever since. "To help a young person combine the academic experience Iowa offers with the life lessons of being a Hawkeye football player is something we've wanted to do for a long time," said Terry, the fifth football letterwinner to establish an endowed football scholarship at the UI. "The UI football program under Coach Ferentz is first-rate, and we're proud to be associated with it."
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