BEMIDJI — Bemidji State University announced it established a newly named college using the largest gift from an estate the university has received in its 107-year history.
The $8.1 million donation from the estate of Bemidji State University alumnus R. Allen Sunderman was unveiled Thursday, April 30, and will establish the university’s Sunderman College of Creativity, Enterprise and Place.
The gift will upgrade learning technology and create endowments, new student scholarship funds and an innovation fund to support regional partnerships, according to a BSU news release.
“This isn’t about a new name for a building; it’s about scholarships, innovation hubs and the technology our students need to lead,” BSU President John L. Hoffman stated. “As we prepare to celebrate the first graduates from the Sunderman College on May 8, this gift provides a pathway for the next generation of BSU students to find their place in Northern Minnesota and in the world beyond.”
The college’s multiple degree programs include 34 majors and 28 minors.
While specific details will be developed and announced in the future, Sunderman’s donation will support a broad array of existing and new initiatives for the college.
The gift will fund the creation of a newly formed Office of Sponsored Programs, establish a regional innovation fund and a technology advancement fund. It will also offer direct student support through scholarships for students enrolling in information technology-related majors, provide support for students transferring to BSU from one of its partner two-year colleges and support programs and partnerships that increase industry relationships for students in BSU’s engineering programs.
“Allen’s final gift to Bemidji State University speaks with a clear, resonant voice,” Hoffman said. “He was a person who looked at rural landscapes, real estate and technology from a lens of infinite global potential. The Sunderman College will empower future generations of our students to follow in his footsteps and live inspired lives of their own.”
The gift was facilitated by BSU Alumni & Foundation as part of the “For the North” campaign, a three-year, $25 million targeted initiative endeavor. The university reported the campaign seeks to support BSU and its students across three primary pillars: student success, facility upgrades and named spaces, and enrollment and recruitment.
Doug Fredrickson, president of the BSU Alumni & Foundation Board of Directors, stated the Sunderman gift is rooted in a futurist mindset and a desire to make a long-term impact on BSU and its students.
“Allen was a forward-thinking individual,” Fredrickson said. “His legacy gift was designed to provide perpetual support to those who were important in his life: first family, then BSU. Today, as his gift’s attention now shifts to BSU, you can still see his long-term thinking being honored for the betterment of students in Northern Minnesota.”
More about R. Allen Sunderman
The son of Roger and Lyda Sunderman, R. Allen Sunderman was raised with "a front-row seat to the industriousness of the American heartland," the release stated. His father built Sunderman Farm Management, and his mother taught elementary school. After serving his country in the Navy during the Vietnam era, Sunderman came to Bemidji State University, graduating in 1975 with a degree in business administration.
For 38 years, Sunderman shared his life and vision with his husband, Daniel Koskovick.
"Together, they embodied a pioneering spirit and balanced a respect for tradition with a forward-looking approach to the world," according to the announcement.
While Koskovick focused on life at home, Sunderman became a quiet visionary in real estate and an early adopter of the digital age. Long before the world went paperless, Sunderman was embracing the efficiencies of technology, a foresight that paved the way for his success and his eventual desire to support IT and technology education for the students of Northern Minnesota.
Sunderman’s philanthropy was often quiet; he would discreetly fund a neighbor’s education or support a local cause without ever seeking the spotlight.
Sunderman died of cancer in 2019 at age 71.
"But his story did not end there," the release stated. "It lives on in every student who uses technology to solve a problem, every entrepreneur who starts a business in a small town and every person who understands that where you come from is just as important as where you are going."
The Sunderman College naming gift continues his legacy of support for Bemidji State University, which includes two gifts totaling $200,000 in 2025 that established the R. Allen Sunderman Technology Solutions Fund. Reflecting Sunderman’s love of technology, the endowment has funded significant upgrades to ensure BSU students have access to software and computer labs that align with current industry standards.
Allyssa Joseph, BSU’s vice president of advancement and executive director of the BSU Foundation, said Sunderman’s legacy demonstrates the potential that donors have to make a lasting impact on an institution and its future trajectory.
“In honoring Allen Sunderman, we celebrate a bridge between BSU’s history and its future,” Joseph said. “Allen was a Navy veteran who used his education to build a successful business and then gave back to ensure future students have those same open doors.”
Distinguished Minnesotan Award
Bemidji State University has awarded its Distinguished Minnesotan Award since 1981, acknowledging Minnesotans for their exemplary service to the state or the nation. The recipient traditionally addresses graduating students at the university’s commencement ceremony each spring. Previous recipients include political and corporate leaders, philanthropists, artists, writers and scholars.
In recognition of Sunderman’s final, transformative act of generosity, he is receiving the 2026 Distinguished Minnesotan award posthumously. Accepting the award and delivering the commencement address on his behalf will be Brent Larson, a retired U.S. Air Force officer, sustainable farming champion and longtime friend and colleague to the Sunderman family.
“Brent is the perfect voice to share the values of grit, innovation and philanthropy with our graduates,” Hoffman said.
