ALLIANCE — The University of Mount Union is excited to announce a transformative gift from the Flint '77 and Meg '78 Gerlach Brenton Charitable Trust. The Brentons' generosity will have a profound impact on the University. They will establish an endowed fund dedicated to developing new engineering majors that align with a growing job market, launch a new Center for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence and create an endowed award to recognize exceptional students.

The Brentons' endowed award will be awarded annually to a student demonstrating exceptional use of artificial intelligence, data science and automation in liberal arts and related sciences studies. This prize will recognize and encourage innovative applications of these technologies in diverse academic disciplines.

In recognition of their extraordinary contribution, the University of Mount Union will name its School of Engineering the Samuel W. and Dolores E. Brenton School of Engineering in memory of Flint's parents.

The Brentons' establishment of the Center for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence comes at an exciting time. The University recently unveiled two new minors in artificial intelligence and applied artificial intelligence.

"This gift will shape the University's future, drive innovation and education across campus and position Mount Union as a leader in data science and AI," said Dr. Bill Cunion, vice president for academic affairs. "We deeply appreciate this extraordinary investment in our students, faculty and curriculum."

The Endowed Fund for the Samuel W. and Dolores E. Brenton School will support the development of new curricula and programming and make incremental investments to enrich the academic experience and resources available to students and faculty.

"We are excited to invest in the future of Mount Union. With this gift, all students will benefit. New curricula and majors will allow our engineering graduates to be placed in new, fast-growing fields,” said Flint. “Mount's liberal arts majors will benefit by learning to apply AI, data science and automation as students and again in their chosen professions. We hope that Mount students develop best-in-class digital competencies and then apply them in their careers.”

"It is a privilege to honor Flint's parents in this manner, to be able to help Mount Union position itself as a leader in AI — especially to encourage non-tech majors to utilize it in their chosen field of study, " said Meg.

Flint, a longtime Silicon Valley executive, and Meg, a retired physical therapist, have generously given to Mount Union throughout the years. In the past decade alone, they established The Meg Gerlach Brenton Endowed Scholarship to assist students majoring in the life sciences. The Meg Gerlach Brenton Physical Therapy Teaching Lab in Gallaher Hall was named to honor Meg's impactful career. Flint has served as a guiding force on Mount Union's Board of Trustees since 2018.

"The University of Mount Union is profoundly grateful to Flint and Meg for their visionary generosity," said University President Greg King. "Their gift will honor the legacy of Samuel and Dolores Brenton and significantly advance our School of Engineering while fostering cutting-edge research and education in data science and artificial intelligence."

The University will celebrate the Brentons’ remarkable impact with an official dedication of the Samuel W. and Dolores E. Brenton School of Engineering on Friday, October 11, as part of its annual Alumni Weekend and Homecoming festivities.

Learn more about Mount Union's innovative programs in engineering and artificial intelligence by visiting mountunion.edu/engineering and mountunion.edu/ai, respectively.