John and Shirley Berry, at left, with Kristin and Brock Tessman, Northern Michigan University president, in the Northern Center. (Photo courtesy of NMU)

MARQUETTE — Northern Michigan University alumnus John Berry Jr. and his wife Shirley Berry have become leading lifetime givers to NMU, surpassing $10 million in total donations in their time.

Their most recent gifts of $3.5 million include: $2 million to endow in perpetuity the College of Business Deanship in their names; $1 million as an expendable fund to support the Northern Enterprise Center, the future home of the College of Business; and $500,000 for upgrades to the NMU hockey locker room and other athletics facilities.

“The recent gifts (of $3.5 million) represent the largest cash gift in the history of NMU, supporting a new endowed dean position in the College of Business ($2 million), $1 million toward the construction of the Northern Enterprise Center and $500,000 in other giving to athletics and scholarships,” said NMU Chief Marketing Officer Derek Hall.

The Berrys previously provided the lead gift for the Berry Events Center and endowed the John and Shirley Berry Scholarship, which awards $20,000 over four years to incoming freshmen who have demonstrated academic achievement and have enrolled in the NMU Honors Program. Now this most recent donation has the majority of money headed to supporting an endowed dean position for the College of Business.

“The endowment … there’s the corpus, kind of the core amount, which would be $2 million and every year over time, that generates some interest money that comes off of the corpus,” said Tessman. “And that money allows the College of Business to allow the dean of the College of Business to do what they think will benefit the college.

“Could be adding some scholarships and dollars to the student pool, it could be supporting travel for faculty, it could be programming like a lecture series, it could be that it attracts a dean someday down the road, because that in itself allows them to think strategically and think, ‘Wow, I’d love to go to Northern and be the dean of a school, I’m going to have that fund available to me every year in order to make life better for my students and my faculty.’ So it is tremendous because it’s perpetual.”

The next biggest slice of the donation is going to the Northern Enterprise Center. The creation of the Northern Enterprise Center is set to centrally locate popular academic programs, reduce net square feet through the future demolition of Gries Hall and to reduce NMU’s carbon footprint and operating costs. This donation is the largest financial step since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill to put $13.4 million toward the construction of the center in December 2023.

“There’s a million dollars that is expendable, and that is to support the construction of the Northern Enterprise Center, which is going to be a new home for the College of Business,” Tessman said. “It’s going to be built right around the Hedgcock Building. So if you can imagine standing kind of where Gries Hall is right now, and looking across the street, the Northern Enterprise Center will wrap around those two sides of Hedgecock, and it’ll be a place where, there’s instructional space, there are offices for faculty and staff, but also event space. We envision a really neat, kind of gathering atrium with a staircase, a place right in the heart of campus where we can hold exciting events… College of Business project, and the very support of that project is an investment in the U.P. as much as it is an investment in Northern.”

The rest of the $3.5 million is set to go to scholarships and upgrades to NMU athletics, which is just in time as the window for Donor-funded scholarships has just opened for current students.

“The Berrys, yes, support College of Business students, Honors Program students, but there are some for everyone out there that range from $1,000 to some of them are even full rides,” said Director of Alumni and Foundation Communications, Kylie Bunting. “So that’s open for students to check out now through Feb. 20.”

The Berrys recently visited NMU during the university’s homecoming week in late September and met a variety of NMU honors students who received past scholarships from the family.

“It is very meaningful to meet the Honors Program students or read their thank-you letters for the scholarships,” said John Berry, who serves as chair of both the Berry Family Foundation and Berry Investments. “They are so genuine in their appreciation for the funding support and the quality education they’re receiving at Northern.”

“I may not have attended Northern, but I really enjoy reading the letters as well,” said Shirley Berry, a former parochial school business education teacher. “The students express themselves so eloquently and with such conviction in sharing their goals and what they plan to do during and after college. It’s also nice that the scholarship recipients typically represent a variety of academic majors.”

“John and Shirley Berry embody what it means to be Wildcat champions,” said Tessman. “Their commitment to the NMU College of Business, our students and Wildcat athletics has been transformative for our university. As I contemplate their lifetime giving, it is abundantly clear that the Berrys have been instrumental in building Northern Michigan University into the wonderful place it is today.”

John Berry feels the need to donate from his family, his connection with current NMU students and most importantly because of his own time at NMU, which he found has meant a lot to him as he gets older.

“My grandfather thought education was the pathway to success,” John Berry added. “I was a young kid, still wet behind the ears, when I arrived on campus. But Northern provided a great foundation that helped me grow and mature, along with valuable preparation for life’s many challenges. It also gave me the tools I needed to be successful. I’ve made some money along the way, and feel fortunate to be in a position to share that. As you get older, you want to support those things that had the most meaning in your life. Northern is one of those places for me. I am always happy to give back so that others can enjoy the many positive benefits of a Northern education.”

Tessman believes that this major donation is not the only way to support students or NMU, and that every little instance of help is part of what makes the most opportunity for current students and for the institution of NMU.

“Celebrating is important,” said Tessman. “It also is important to get the word out about this kind of moment, because it’s a catalyst for other alumni or supporters to say, ‘OK, this is what can I do, maybe to make a difference?’ And I think the difference can be volunteer service at the art museum, maybe you’re an adjunct a few years ago and you want to get back in and teach or it can be philanthropic giving. But I think that these moments are really important moments to kind of demonstrate that we all have a role to play. Even folks who are living in, you know, Florida most of the year, have a role to play in the success of Northern.”