$15 million donation to enhance nation’s first ‘VR’ major at Ringling College

Dr. Joel Morganroth and his wife, Dr. Gail Morrison Morganroth, Siesta Key residents, often talked to each other about how virtual reality could transform their professions.

“Think of a student actually being virtually inside of a heart,” Joel Morganroth, a cardiologist, said.

The couple made an extraordinary decision recently regarding their gut feeling about VR and their belief that Ringling College can impact the science of virtual reality.

Their enthusiasm led them to make a donation of $15 million to Ringling College of Art and Design with a portion of the money to enhance Ringling College’s status as the first educational institution in the world to offer virtual reality as a major leading to a bachelor of fine arts, the doctors said.

Ringling College President Larry Thompson, during a press conference Tuesday morning, said the Morganroth’s donation was the single largest in school history and the first ever eight-figure gift.

“We are honored and grateful,” Thompson said. “We are a college on the move.”

Dr. Joel Morganroth is a member of the Ringling College Board of Trustees.

This story was originally published January 29, 2018 at 1:14 PM with the headline "$15 million donation to enhance nation’s first ‘VR’ major at Ringling College."