Korean-born graduate donates $12 million to Illinois State


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

NORMAL, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois State University graduate from South Korea who now is an internationally-known artist, and her husband, have donated $12 million to the school's College of Fine Arts.

Wonsook Kim says she wants the gift to be a celebration of America as a land of opportunity. Both Kim and her husband, Thomas Clement, were born in South Korea.

With the donation, the university is renaming the college and school of art the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts and the Wonsook Kim School of Art.

President Larry Dietz said Kim and Clement are providing for current students and "investing in the future of Illinois State."

Kim's work is on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art, Washington's National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the Vatican Collection in Vatican City.

The 56-year-old Kim came to the United States in 1972 and earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Illinois State.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent Entertainment stories

The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast