Northern Illinois University is getting $40 million for health sciences education and research. The gift from James and Theo (Bahwell) Baustert through the Baustert Family Foundation is the largest in the school's history.
According to a university release, of the total, $10 million will help fund a new home at NIU for health professions education and transdisciplinary research, to be called the Baustert Bahwell Health Technology Building.
$14 million is designated for program development, including acquisition of technology, faculty endowments and student scholarships. Another $14 million will go into a restricted facility maintenance endowment fund, and $2 million to the Northern Fund to support emerging projects.
James Baustert co-founded St. Paul, Minnesota-based firm Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc. in 1971. It was sold to Eli Lilly in 1978 and is now a subsidiary of Boston Scientific. The Baustert Family Foundation was established in 2016 and is known for giving to health and human services causes, including local community centers in Minnesota.
Jeff Baustert, son of James and Theo Baustert and spokesman for the Baustert Foundation, is quoted in the release as saying, "NIU is where my parents met and began their lives together. This gift is a marriage of a need by NIU and focus of interest from our family. It stands as a culmination of my parents’ legacy in the medical device industry and their support of education and research. NIU’s plans for the Health Technology Center were a perfect fit for us.”
The gift to the NIU Foundation will be added to state funding already designated for the new center. Construction is expected to begin in 2026 on the site of Lincoln Residence Hall, which is slated to be demolished in 2025.