With Fly Together, the Heider family continues to fuel Creighton’s growth and evolution
Read more about Fly Together, the nearly $300 million initiative constructing and upgrading 11 new or reimagined recreational, athletic and outdoor spaces located on Creighton’s east campus and adjacent to the new 17th Street corridor.
The corridor will act as a “front porch,” welcoming Omahans and guests with its direct connection to the city's new urban village, the Builder’s District, home of Kiewit Corporation's headquarters.
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By Micah Mertes
The Heider Family Foundation’s $100 million investment in Fly Together is the largest gift in Creighton University’s history, marking a transformational decade made possible by the family’s support.
The Heider name is tied to Creighton in perpetuity. In 2013, Charles Heider, BSC’49, Hon’10, and his wife, Mary Heider, Hon’10, provided Creighton with what was then the largest gift in its history, investing in the success of the newly named Heider College of Business, Creighton’s first named school or college.
The Heider family’s gift ushered in a new era for Creighton business education, allowing the college to move into the Harper Center — named for the late Charles M. “Mike” Harper, HON’95, and Joan F. “Josie” Bruggema Harper.
The investment extended the business college’s scale and ambition — renewed efforts to increase the number of students, faculty, alumni and friends; more connections to the business community; and innovative curriculum and real-world experiences that prepared students for an ever-evolving world.
Since its naming, the Heider College of Business has doubled its undergraduate enrollment to more than 1,300 students today.
“I have a picture of Charlie Heider that hangs over the desk in my office because his vision and who he was as a person continue to influence the direction the Heider College of Business takes today,” said Anthony Hendrickson, PhD, dean of the business college. “The family this school is named after possesses the qualities we want our graduates to carry with them.”
The Heider Family Foundation's continual investment in Creighton has opened the door to new possibilities for the college and the University alike. Though the Heider name is most prominently attached to the business college, the family has invested in every corner of Creighton: academics in every school and college, programming for dozens of areas, capital projects, student experience, mission and Bluejay Athletics.
The family has also funded many student scholarships and further supported students with Heider Hall, the residence hall carrying their name.
Additionally, Charles and Mary Heider were the first donors to endow two faculty chairs at Creighton — one in cancer research and another recognizing Jesuit faculty. Fittingly, the new holder of The Charles & Mary Heider Endowed Jesuit Faculty Chair is Father Patrick Kelly, SJ, PhD, a religious studies professor focused on the intersection of sport and spiritual life.
“The Heider family's generosity to Creighton has benefited our University in countless ways and — in the mold of our founders, the Creighton family — strengthened our Jesuit, Catholic foundation,” said Creighton President the Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD.
Charles Heider served on Creighton’s Board of Trustees for 17 years and had emeritus status on the Board from 1997 to 2015. In 2002, the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus selected Charles and Mary as the first recipients of the Ignatian Leadership Award from the Jesuit Council of Omaha. He also received Creighton’s Alumni Achievement Citation in 2003, and, in 2010, Charles and Mary received Creighton honorary doctorates of humane letters.
Mary and Charles were married for 64 years, until Charles’ passing in 2015, followed by Mary’s in 2022. Their legacy carries on in their sons Scott (a member of the Creighton Board of Trustees) and Mark Heider (a 1981 Creighton law alumnus), their three grandchildren and many family members and friends.
The longtime investment banker was a confidant of Warren Buffett. In 1967, Charles Heider brokered Berkshire Hathaway’s acquisition of Omaha’s National Indemnity Co., the first of the insurance company purchases that led to Buffett becoming one of the world’s wealthiest men.
“It was National Indemnity that made it all happen at Berkshire Hathaway,” Buffett told the Omaha World-Herald at the time of Charles Heider’s passing. “In all likelihood, none of it ever would have happened without Charlie.”
Today, the Heider Family Foundation is managed by Charles and Mary’s son, Scott Heider, managing principal at Chartwell Capital, LLC, and his wife, Cindy Heider, foundation president. Scott and Cindy’s children, recent graduates Courtney Heider, BSBA’23, and Grant Heider, BSBA’24, continued the family’s Creighton legacy in the college named after their grandparents.
“My father always said: What’s good for Creighton is good for Omaha, and what’s good for Omaha is good for Creighton,” said Scott Heider. “I believe that’s more true today than ever before.
“That’s what Fly Together is truly about — the University and the community lifting themselves to greater heights together, higher than either could have done on their own.
"We want to do everything we can to set the trajectory for the University for the next 20 years and secure all it means to Omaha. Our family is 100% committed to doing just that, along with the support of other like-minded individuals.”
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