By Dylan Hart
With less than two months left in her term as USF system President Judy Genshaft has announced that she and her husband, Steven Greenbaum, will donate $20 million to the university.
The donation will go toward a new home for the USF Honors College which will bear Genshaft’s name. It is expected to be built just north of the Muma College of Business at USF Tampa at the cost of approximately $47 million.
“With the Genshaft and Greenbaum gift, the (Honors) College expects to grow to 3,000 students within the next five years,” said a USF press release on the donation. The college now has about 2,200 students.
The new building is expected to be five stories tall and feature classrooms, study areas, offices, event areas, music labs and computer labs.
The honors college is now housed in the Allen building at USF Tampa, which was built in the early 1960s. The Oracle reported in January 2017 that the college had plans to construct a four-story building to house its operations.
Planning began in 2016, but a timeline for the construction was never given. No announcement has been made regarding a timeline for the new plans.
The announcement comes shortly before Genshaft’s 19-year tenure as president ends on July 1 — and shortly after Genshaft was sued by former USF St. Petersburg Regional Chancellor Sophia Wisniewska for defamation and breach of contract.
Genshaft ousted Wisniewska in September 2017 for the way she handled campus preparations for Hurricane Irma.
Genshaft is among the highest paid public college executives in the country, according to a December 2018 Chronicle of Higher Education report. The report says that Genshaft made $1.18 million in 2016.
Genshaft also serves on the board of directors for Ohio-based meat producer Fresh Mark, which is run by her family.
Genshaft and Greenbaum have a history of giving to the university. They donated $1 million to support the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute and another $1 million to the USF Football Center in August 2018.
They also donated $1 million in 2011 to establish the Genshaft/Greenbaum Passport Scholars Fund for students who want to travel abroad.
Joel Momberg, USF Foundation CEO and senior vice president of advancement and alumni relations, said that “based on our research, Dr. Judy Genshaft has given more to the university in her 19 years than any sitting university president in the United States.”
“This is indeed a historic moment for USF and American higher education,” Momberg said. “We are so grateful for all President Genshaft and Steven Greenbaum have done for our university.”
Header Photo: Jonah Hinebaugh | The Crow’s Nest
