University of Toledo alumnus Steven Cavanaugh and his wife, Tiffany, have made a $500,000 gift to the College of Business and Innovation to provide scholarships for honor students and enable the college to pursue new initiatives.
Tiffany and Steven Cavanaugh, center, gave $500,000 to the College of Business and Innovation last month and posed for a photo with UT Interim President Nagi Naganathan, left, and Dr. Gary Insch, dean of the college.
“One thing the College of Business taught me is to invest where there is the best return on investment,” Cavanaugh said. “I know that we have placed our money in a great place.”
A native of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Cavanaugh earned a bachelor’s degree in finance, magna cum laude, from The University of Toledo. He is executive vice president and chief operating officer of HCR ManorCare. He was appointed to the UT Board by Ohio Gov. John Kasich in April and is former chair of the Business Advisory Council for the College of Business and Innovation.
“People are thanking me,” Cavanaugh said, “but this is an opportunity to say thank you to The University of Toledo, where I was fortunate to attend a college that had great professors and that launched me on my career. Thanks to those who made this a great place.”
Dr. Gary Insch, dean of the College of Business and Innovation, thanked the Cavanaughs at the gift announcement, explaining that $100,000 of the gift will go into the Dean’s Innovation Fund to launch and support new programs and initiatives to “raise the bar at the college,” while $400,000 will endow scholarships for business honor students.
“Scholarships are vital to attracting talented honor students to the college,” Insch said. “It is a gift that will impact generations to come.”
Insch also thanked Cavanaugh for his “friendship, mentoring and great ideas” since he became dean of the college in July.
UT Interim President Nagi Naganathan also thanked the Cavanaughs for their generous gift, which he said will make a difference and “impact the world.”
“We always talk about giving time, talent and treasure,” Naganathan said, “and Steve has done it all.”
Vern Snyder, UT vice president for institutional advancement, thanked the Cavanaughs for their “student-centered philanthropy, a very generous investment in our students, which will truly make a difference in their lives,” and for a gift that “validates the mission of the College of Business and Innovation.”
In his capacity as chief operating officer at HCR ManorCare, Cavanaugh has oversight responsibility for all of the company’s day-to-day operations as well as its public policy and government relations activities. He also serves as a member of the company’s board of directors.
HCR ManorCare is a post-acute health-care services company that operates skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, home health and hospice agencies, and outpatient rehabilitation clinics, with annual revenues in excess of $4 billion. The company does business in more than 500 locations nationwide and employs nearly 60,000 employees who provide care to more than 200,000 patients annually.
The Cavanaughs reside in Holland, Ohio, and are the parents of two children.
“I try to give my time to The University of Toledo and the College of Business,” Cavanaugh said. “I consider this a great opportunity to express my thanks for everything they have done for me. I really love this institution.”
