The University of Miami has announced that donor Michele Bowman Underwood has committed a large share of her estate in support of programs at the university. 

Part of the university’s $2.5 billion centennial fundraising campaign, the bequest valued at more than $25 million will benefit three areas that Bowman Underwood is passionate about: languages, women’s health, and women’s golf. The commitment will support the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, which will be named in her honor; research focused on women’s health at the Miller School of Medicine; and provide scholarships and program support for the women’s golf team.

Bowman Underwood grew up in a French Jewish-Catholic family in wartime Algiers, fleeing the Nazis and escaping to Brazil for 10 years. She and her family moved to Chile for a time before moving to the United States. As a result, Bowman Underwood speaks, reads, and writes English, Portuguese, and Spanish as well as her native French and has a passion for the way language connects people. Her support of women’s health and women’s golf arose from her conviction that when women don’t have access to appropriate health care or educational opportunities—including sports—societies suffer. The avid golfer frames her support of the Hurricanes women’s golf team in similar fashion. Not having had the opportunity to attain higher education herself, she is eager to bring that same opportunity within reach for talented young female golfers. 

“With this gift to the university, Michele Bowman Underwood is bringing her passions to life at the U,” said Josh Friedman, senior vice president for development and alumni relations. “She is making this extraordinary commitment to the programs and disciplines that matter most to her, and her legacy will help the University make great things happen in these areas in perpetuity.” 

(Photo Credit: University of Miami, courtesy of Michelle Bowman Underwood)