Famed author pledges $10M to college

FORT MYERS — Elaine Nicpon Marieb, a noted textbook author, educator and philanthropist who lives in Sarasota, pledged $10 million to Florida Gulf Coast University's College of Health Professions and Social Work.

The college will be renamed the Elaine Nicpon Marieb College of Health & Human Services, according to a statement. The pledge is the single largest gift from an individual in the history of the FGCU Foundation, which raises money for the Fort Myers-based college. The investment also marks a total of $15 million of philanthropic support from Marieb; in 2012 she donated $5 million when the building that houses the college was named in her honor.

“Marieb's gift epitomizes the term transformational,” FGCU President Wilson Bradshaw says in the statement. “Her gifts will enable the Marieb College of Health & Human Services to reach greater heights of excellence, and provide an even more comprehensive education to our students.”