Monmouth receives largest gift ever: $10 million toward new recreation complex

Walter S. Huff Jr. '56

Web posted Aug. 28, 2001 10 a.m. CDST

Walter S. Huff Jr. of Atlanta, Ga., will present Monmouth College with a gift of $10 million—its largest gift ever—President Richard Giese announced today.

The donation, made in memory of Huff’s late wife, Elizabeth, is the lead gift in a campaign to build a $21 million recreation complex on the college campus.

A 1956 Monmouth College graduate, Huff is the retired chairman of HBO & Company, an information systems company for the health care industry he co-founded in 1974.  In 1983, Huff and his wife presented Monmouth College with a $5 million gift, then the largest gift in its history and at the time one of the largest gifts ever to an Illinois college.

The recreation complex would incorporate the college’s original gymnasium and its Glennie Gymnasium with a new 54,000-square-foot field house and a new natatorium to create a state-of-the-art athletic facility encompassing more than 155,000 square feet.

“This is a historic moment for Monmouth College,” President Giese said. “The Huffs’ generosity through the years has been a tremendous inspiration to this institution as their financial leadership has challenged us to aspire to ever higher goals. This gift, and the first-class facility that will ensue as a result, will take Monmouth to a whole new level. “

Giese said that the recreation complex, which will be built between Archer and Boston avenues at Seventh St., will provide students with modern fitness, training, academic and competition facilities. “Most of our peer institutions already boast such complexes, and given the importance today’s students attach to fitness and health, we will no longer be at a competitive disadvantage,” he explained. “When this new facility is complete, we will have one of the finest recreation facilities in the country for a college our size.”

Huff, who currently serves as vice chairman of the college’s board of trustees, grew up in Peoria, as did his wife, who died in December. His appreciation for Monmouth College began as a college senior when he almost dropped out due to lack of money. “The college came through with financial aid, so I could finish my education in the liberal arts,” he said. “There is no question that the liberal arts education I received at Monmouth College was the foundation for much of my business success.”

Huff said that while the $10 million gift is a tribute to his wife, he also believes it is important to the college at this point in its history. “The college certainly needs this comprehensive facility, but it also needs real financial commitment from its alumni and friends,” he said. “It is my hope that this gift will challenge others to step forward in a big way.”

Over the last two decades, Huff has lent his support to several other college projects, providing major gifts toward the construction of Glennie Gymnasium and Wells Theater, the “Forward to the 21st Century” campaign and the renovation of the presidential residence, Quinby House.

Following his graduation, Huff went to work for a certified public accounting firm in Peoria and in 1963 became controller for the Third Order of St. Francis, which operated 11 hospitals including Peoria’s St. Francis Medical Center. In 1974 he joined Bruce Barrington and Dick Owens to form HBO & Company in Peoria. The company pioneered computer software and systems which addressed departmental communications and information needs of hospitals.

Huff retired from the company in 1990 and is currently a partner in the Atlanta-based Gerdes Huff Investments. After his retirement, HBO continued its dynamic growth and in 1998 merged with McKesson Corporation.

Huff was awarded an honorary degree by Monmouth College in 1986, the same year he was elected to its board of trustees. In 1992, he was a charter inductee into the Hall of Achievement, a select group of the college’s most influential alumni. This April, he was the college’s Wendell Whiteman Memorial Lecturer.

The Huff Athletic Center Groundbreaking - June 8, 2002