David Bean accepted a trade from a customer in the 1990s that is now funding a new pharmaceutical wing at the UF Research and Academic Center in Lake Nona.
A customer gave Bean five acres of land just outside of Celebration to pay off his prescription bills, and after Bean’s wife died in 2000, he donated the land to UF.
The university sold the land, and the proceeds from that sale totaled $1.2 million, according to Kelly Markey, senior director of development at the UF College of Pharmacy.
Bean asked for the donation to go toward establishing a campus near Orlando for pharmacy students, according to a university press release.
The new campus in Lake Nona will be named after Bean and his late wife, Helen.
A class of 1952 alumnus, Bean graduated from the UF College of Pharmacy. He worked in the pharmaceutical industry for over 35 years and purchased his own store in 1966. He expanded the business with the help of his late wife.
“He credits her with being the reason behind his success,” Markey said. “She helped run the business side.”
The new pharmacy campus will be located within the UF Research and Academic Center in Orlando. The 100,000-square-foot project cost about $40 million.
“The center will help our Orlando campus expand and grow,” said Bill Millard, executive associate dean of the College of Pharmacy. About 200 pharmacy students will get their pharmaceutical degrees, and 20 graduate students will earn degrees in comprehensive drug research and pharmacodynamics.
The center will open Oct. 5.
