Revamped Center for Innovation Fueled by Generous Planned Gift from Xavier Alumni
Jan 22, 2023
It isn’t a stretch to say innovation is at the heart of a long, successful career for Gary Robinette (MBA ’76).
Robinette spent nearly 40 years in corporate leadership with stints at Procter & Gamble, Avon Products and Wolseley PLC. He spent most of his career in various leadership capacities with Ply Gem Industries, Inc.
During his years as an executive with Ply Gem Industries, Robinette developed programs to help foster innovation and creativity within his organization. His approach led to the acceleration of new projects and ideas which helped Ply Gem become the leading manufacturer of home exterior building products in North America.
“I always asked [our employees], ‘How could we do windows better?’” Robinette said. “I always wanted people throughout our organization to be thinking about how we do things better because that’s what’s going to be better for the customer.”
As a former member of Xavier's Board of Trustees, Robinette saw the need to create an interdisciplinary center for innovation -- a center that would bring people together from all four of Xavier's colleges.
Through a generous $2 million dollar planned gift to the University, Robinette helped Xavier make substantial upgrades to its centers, programs and staffing. The funds also provide students with funding to transform their creative ideas into innovative solutions.
Innovation at Xavier goes beyond the creation of new products to solve existing issues. Xavier Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Rashmi Assudani said innovation is deeply rooted within Xavier’s Jesuit Catholic mission.
“Let’s not think about innovation and entrepreneurship only in terms of coming up with a new app or a new iPhone,” Assudani said. “Innovation is a way of thinking. The [Robinette Center for Innovation] is an avenue for minds to collide so students can be with each other in an uninterrupted, psychologically safe space.”
Assudani said the Robinette Center for Innovation will continue to provide opportunities for collaboration among students, faculty and staff from various disciplines around campus.
In 2022, the Center for Innovation held its inaugural Innovation Startup Challenge which brought Xavier students together from all our colleges to address the topic of food insecurity. Students learned about the issue from community leaders then and broke into interdisciplinary teams to critically discuss the issue before proposing real, actionable solutions to food insecurity issues on campus.
Gary Sharpe (MBA ’79), President and CEO of Healthcare Logistics, said he believes the integration of community businesses and organizations will be vital to the success of the Robinette Center for Innovation. Like Robinette, Sharpe made a substantial gift to Xavier which will help renovate the space and facilitate projects contained with the Center.
“I’m hoping through this Center that all students, faculty and staff will start seeing things differently, doing things differently and being creative,” Sharpe said.