Hastings College has received a $200,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Jacksonville, Fla. The funds, awarded in the foundation’s Private Higher Education category, will be used toward construction costs for the new Morrison-Reeves Science Center. 

The Private Higher Education program, one of the foundation’s five program areas for potential grant recipients, seeks to strengthen private, four-year liberal arts institutions that place strong emphasis on teaching and whose students choose majors primarily in the humanities, science and math. Institutions that receive support demonstrate academic excellence and a solid record of financial strength. 

Among other institutions receiving funds in the same category were: Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.; Carnegie Melon University, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Hanover College, Hanover, Ind.

This is the second time Hastings College received a grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. In 1999, the college was awarded $150,000 for construction of the Clyde Sachtleben Observatory.

The original Arthur Vining Davis Foundation was organized in 1952 under a living trust established by Arthur Davis, a Pittsburgh, Pa., businessman. In 1888, Davis began working for Pittsburgh Reduction Company, becoming president of the company in 1910. The company expanded, and was renamed Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa). In 1949, Davis relocated to Florida and invested in banks, airlines, shipping companies and hotels. He became known as one of the most innovative and successful contributors to American industrial growth.