Our Story
The Belin-Blank Center owes its existence to the vision and philanthropy of our founders, David and Connie Belin and Myron and Jaqueline Blank. The Belins and Blanks believed talented and gifted students were not adequately served in school, and they hoped to support efforts to improve the situation. The two families made significant financial commitments while joining forces to secure state funding for the creation of a comprehensive center.
Founded in 1988, the Belin-Blank Center quickly developed into an internationally-respected powerhouse providing innovative programming for gifted and talented students in addition to our groundbreaking work with teachers. As we grew, the Center added counseling services and programming for twice-exceptional children--those who are both gifted and have a diagnosed disorder that impacts their learning or social-emotional development. We also moved into our award-winning building, the Blank Honors Center, built through private donations.
The Perry family of New York are longtime supporters of the Belin-Blank Center. For the Perry family, the Belin-Blank Center has been a source of pride for four generations. Beverly Perry’s parents were Mike and Jackie Blank, who, along with David and Connie Belin, provided the foundational support that launched the Belin-Blank Center. The Perrys, including Beverly, her children Jeff and Shoshana, and Jeff's son William, have been long-time donors to the Center. Among other things, their generous donations have enabled us to establish and make scholarships available to students for the Perry Research Scholars Institute.
Henry B. and Jocelyn Wallace of Scottsdale, Arizona, have also been outstanding advocates for gifted students and longtime supporters of the Belin-Blank Center. The Assessment and Counseling Clinic was made possible by a generous gift from Henry B. and Jocelyn Wallace of Scottsdale, Arizona. This Clinic testifies to their generosity and vision that gifted children and their families would have opportunities to receive counseling services. Their generous donation has enabled us to make grants available to students in our summer programs that cover up to one-half of the program cost.
Mary Bucksbaum Scanlan is a longtime friend of the Belin-Blank Center, and many of her generous gifts have supported the arts. Specifically, she has supported specialized programming for students as well as the acquisition of works of art for the Center’s public collection. The daughter of a well-known art collector, the late Melva Bucksbaum, as well as an artist herself, Mary Bucksbaum Scanlan is committed to supporting the ongoing emphasis on the arts in the Center’s student programs. A generous gift from Mary Bucksbaum Scanlan and Patrick Scanlan, honoring Mary’s parents, Martin and Melva Bucksbaum, established the Bucksbaum Early Entrance STEAM Academy. The Bucksbaum Academy puts the ideas the Center champions into motion via early admission to the University of Iowa for bright high school sophomores and juniors. This program seeks talented and gifted students in the arts in addition to those who excel in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math). As a result, the Academy is a STEAM program, with the A representing the arts.
Philanthropy has been one of the wonderfully unique successes of the Belin-Blank Center. The tremendous generosity of those who believe in providing opportunities for gifted students and their teachers has marked our founding and history. Underlying the stewardship of our founding families’ vision and the generosity of all of our donors is the belief that gifted students hold enormous potential to solve intractable problems, discover the unimaginable, and create beauty when their talents are appropriately recognized and fully nurtured.
To contribute to the Belin-Blank Center online please visit the University of Iowa Foundation.