Belmont University in Nashville has announced a $30 million matching gift from alumnus and trustee Milton Johnson—a former HCA Healthcare chief executive—and his wife, Denice.

The funding, which launches the Johnson Academic Challenge, will match donor commitments between $1.5 million and $3 million with the aim of endowing 20 professorships across Belmont’s academic programs—for a total investment of $60 million in combined giving. The gift, which boosts the couple’s total giving to the university to more than $50 million, will enable Belmont to expand its efforts to attract faculty at the top of their fields and, in turn, help train future leaders prepared to tackle complex challenges facing society.

“By creating this matching fund, we hope to attract and retain innovative leaders of deep character from diverse backgrounds and industries who bring forward-thinking perspectives to our academic programs,” said Johnson, who received a scholarship to attend Belmont when he was a student. “These endowed positions will be catalysts for transformation in how we prepare students for the future.”

(Photo credit: Belmont University)