$50 million gift to college from T. Eric Galloway to advance community building mission and support school’s endowment campaign
In a transformative act of philanthropic partnership, T. Eric Galloway’s Galvan Foundation has made a major gift to Bard College, marking the next step for the Foundation’s legacy of community development in Hudson and Columbia County.
The gift will be directed towards Bard’s groundbreaking $500 million endowment campaign. The donation includes a large collection of mixed-income housing units, single-family homes, and reinvigorated commercial and public-use properties, all positioning Bard as the new steward of these significant nonprofit real estate holdings.
Galvan will also establish a fund dedicated to support ongoing Bard programming in Columbia County. The gift will deepen Bard College’s engagement with the communities of Hudson, where Bard has run an early college program since 2016, and Columbia County, both of which neighbor Bard’s Annandale-on-Hudson campus.
Established by Henry van Ameringen and T. Eric Galloway, Galvan has been a vital force in Hudson since 2002, advancing the common good through innovative community investments: developing mixed-income housing; funding and housing nonprofit organizations; as well as funding education initiatives, including the Bard Early College in Hudson.
T. Eric Galloway is a Harvard Law School graduate, real estate executive, and advocate-entrepreneur known for co-founding and leading the Galvan Foundation in Hudson, New York, which focuses on improving quality of life for disadvantaged residents through grants, affordable housing, and preservation projects.
He is also the founder and president of the Lantern Organization, which has developed over 1,200 affordable housing units for low-income New Yorkers, and he oversees various community initiatives that support health, education, and economic opportunity.
Galloway’s work emphasizes both immediate and long-term solutions to social challenges, particularly through philanthropic investment in Hudson’s architectural and social infrastructure
Foundation projects have revitalized key community sites and neighborhoods such as the Hudson Armory; historic Allen Street; Union Street; Warren Street; North Fifth Street, and the Hudson Depot District. Through partnerships with nonprofit organizations and county government, Galvan created and preserved spaces for essential civic institutions, including the Hudson Area Library, Hudson Senior Center, The Starting Place Daycare Center, Greater Promise Neighborhood, Camphill Hudson assisted living residences, Columbia Opportunities Head Start, Hudson Little League, Galvan Civic Motel transitional housing for families, and The Foundry at Hudson, a civic arts nonprofit in a restored historic foundry building.
Bard College looks forward to developing stronger ties with the local communities of Hudson and Columbia County, including the partnerships established by the Foundation, and will honor the terms of the existing leases and contracts.
“Galvan’s commitment to the common good through place-based investment has shaped Hudson for more than two decades,” said Dan Kent, Vice President of the Foundation. “By entrusting this portfolio to Bard, we are ensuring our work will continue long into the future, confident that Bard will sustain our mission and amplify its impact.”
Founded in 1860, Bard College brings a deep institutional commitment to civic engagement and public service. The College’s Center for Civic Engagement and expansive network of community programs reflect its ethos as a private institution in the public interest.
“Bard is honored to accept this extraordinary gift and the responsibility that comes with it,” said President of Bard College Leon Botstein. “We look forward to pursuing our mission on behalf of the public good in ways that benefit the citizens of Hudson and the surrounding communities.”
The gift affirms the shared values of both institutions and establishes a strong foundation for sustained civic partnership in Hudson’s future.