Campus Beautification Efforts Continue at Marquette
with Donation from Area Family
Released:
Nov.1, 2004
Marquette University gratefully welcomes a donation that honors
the life and work of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Vincent and Geeta
Kuttemperoor have pledged to the university a 6-foot, 6-inch bronze
statue of Mother Teresa holding a child. The statue will adorn
the campus outside the College of Nursing and the Student Health
Service, a location chosen to commemorate her devotion to improving
the welfare of children. The gift is expected to arrive from Kolkata,
India, by the end of the year and installation is tentatively
scheduled for the summer of 2005. The donation was facilitated
by Dr. Prem Sharma, associate dean emeritus of the Marquette School
of Dentistry.
The artist, Gautam Pal, is known internationally for his statues
of Mahatma Ghandi, one of which was donated to the state of Wisconsin
by the Asian/Indian Committee of Greater Milwaukee in 2002 and
now stands in MacArthur Square, just east of the Milwaukee County
Courthouse.
"Marquette University is delighted to accept this generous
gift from Mr. and Mrs. Kuttemperoor,” said Stephanie Russell,
executive director of university mission and identity at Marquette
University. “Mother Teresa blessed this campus in 1981 when she
was here to receive the Pere Marquette Discovery Award, and we
continue to look to her life as an example of compassion, faith
and courage. She continues to be an inspiration for all of us
at Marquette.”
For nearly three decades, Kuttemperoor and his family have been
prominent philanthropists as well as successful entrepreneurs
in Southeastern Wisconsin. Kuttemperoor is the CEO and president
of V.K. Development Corp. in Brookfield After working as a professor
of mathematics, physics and nuclear engineering, he founded V.
K. Development and its affiliated companies in 1978. The numerous
donations of V.K. Development and the Kuttemperoor family to civic
and medical organizations have greatly improved the local communities
of both Pleasant Prairie and Brookfield.
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