A former top executive with Wells Fargo and his wife are committing $1.1 million to the University of Northern Iowa Foundation. UNI Vice President for University Advancement Bill Calhoun says he’s not surprised by the gift from Mark and Jill Oman. “Mark and Jill Oman are both graduates of UNI and have been long time supporters of the university,” Calhoun says. “Their most recent gift will be used to establish scholarships in the College of Business and for teacher education majors here at the university.”
Mark Oman graduated from UNI in 1976 and recently retired as the senior executive vice president of Wells Fargo & Company. Jill Oman is a 1985 UNI graduate. The Oman gift is part of the Focus on Students: UNI Scholarship Initiative, a $40 million, five-year campaign to support current and future students attending the campus in Cedar Falls.
“Currently, we are over $17 million dollars toward that goal and we’re only 14 months into that campaign,” Calhoun says. The Omans have established the Don and Jo Fuerhoff Scholarship for students from Iowa or Nebraska who are majoring in teacher education or a program that leads to teacher certification.
The Fuerhoff’s are Jill Oman’s parents, who are Nebraska natives. The Mark and Jill Oman Scholarship will benefit students who are majoring in or intend to major in the College of Business Administration.