Tom Lewis, CEO of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based real estate business T.W. Lewis Company, and his wife Jan have given a $2.5 million gift to Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University to support student personal development and success.
The Lewises, founders of the T.W. Lewis Foundation, have designated their generous gift for two purposes: $1.5 million to establish and fund the T.W. Lewis Center for Personal Development at Barrett Honors College on the ASU Tempe campus and $1 million to go toward the construction of a $10 million Barrett Honors College Student Success Center.
The T.W. Lewis Center will have a full-time director, four faculty members, an assessment coordinator, a speaker series and specialized curriculum. It will offer assistance with personal development, career coaching, self-awareness assessments, leadership training, networking opportunities, and courses on finding success and happiness. The goal is to have the center fully staffed and open to students by August.
The Barrett Honors College Student Success Center is in the initial planning stages. Plans call for the center to be built adjacent to the Barrett Vista del Sol complex, near Apache Boulevard and McAllister Avenue in Tempe and for the T.W. Lewis Center to be housed there.
“The Lewis gift makes a Center for Personal Development possible, and also contributes to the construction of the facility that will house our student success initiatives of every sort,” including honors academic advising, writing tutoring, international fellowship advising, and student personal and career success coaching and advising, said Mark Jacobs, Barrett Honors College dean and ASU vice provost.
The Lewises hope that their contribution will spark additional support for the Barrett Student Success Center and inspire others to contribute to construction funds during Campaign ASU 2020, the university’s multi-year fundraising campaign.
“We are aiming to develop successful people and successful leaders,” said Tom Lewis. “We believe in young people and the value of education, and we want to focus on students and help them develop their strengths. We want to give them the tools to become successful and happy.”
To learn more about contributing to the Barrett Student Success Center through Campaign ASU 2020, contact Chelsie Bruggeman, Barrett Honors College senior associate director of development, at 480-727-2410.
