Entrepreneur and philanthropist John Pappajohn, for whom the University of Iowa’s Pappajohn Business Building is named, died on April 22 at the age of 94.

Pappajohn was born in 1928 in Greece. He immigrated to the U.S. with his mother when he was nine months old to Mason City, Iowa. 

He grew up in Mason City, once recounting how he had to repeat kindergarten because he wasn’t fluent in English. When he was 16, his father died, forcing him to support his family. 

Pappajohn graduated from Mason City High School before coming to Iowa City for college. He graduated from the UI in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in business, when the business school was still housed in the College of Business Administration Building.

He spent six years obtaining his degree as he would alternate going to college with his two brothers.

UI Center for Advancement CEO and Director Lynette Marshall said in an interview with The Daily Iowan Thursday that after Papajohn’s father died, he and his brothers took turns working at their family’s grocery store — Evia Meat and Grocery Co. named after his hometown in Greece — to attend business courses at the UI.

“I just think about the kind of determination that was required to decide to go to college and to understand that they had to help their mother and stay in the family business while also recognizing how important a college degree would be to each of them,” Marshall said.

Upon graduating, Pappajohn would return to Mason City to sell insurance, later moving to Des Moines in 1962 to start his own insurance business called Guardsman Life Insurance Company.

He ran his business for seven years before selling it in 1969 for $100,000. He would use this money to start his next business Equity Dynamics, a venture capital fund. 

According to a statement from the Tippie College of Business, Pappajohn would become involved in more than 100 startups and more than 50 initial public offerings and would serve as a director at more than 40 companies.

He was a prolific donor to the UI, giving millions of dollars for a number of different projects across campus. This included a donation used to fund the creation of the John Pappajohn Business Building for the College of Business in 1992.

Four years later in 1996, Pappajohn would make another donation to the UI, this time providing a $1.5 million seed to Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center. He also donated money to create other entrepreneurial centers across the state at Iowa State University, University of Northern Iowa, Drake University, and North Iowa Area Community College.

Throughout his life, Pappajohn donated over $30 million to fund the centers. 

Pappajohn donated money to other parts of the UI as well, including $100 million to the UI Hospitals and Clinics. The Pappajohn Pavilion at UIHC, the John and Mary Pappajohn Clinical Cancer Center, and the John and Mary Pappajohn Biomedical Research Building would be named for him and his wife Mary, who died last year.

Tippie College of Business Dean Amy Kristof-Brown said in a statement released Wednesday that Pappajohn was much more than a name on a building.

“His story is at the heart of what we do and inspires us every day. He lived the American dream, immigrating to the United States as a child, raising a family, and using his intelligence and hard work to become a business leader. His is a success story we can all learn from,” Kristof-Brown said.

Pappajohn was the recipient of numerous awards and designations as a result of his charity. This includes the Horatio Alger Award in 1995, UI Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 1991, and the Hancher-Finkbine Alumni Medallion in 2004.

“As one of the state’s leading business builders, John serves as a daily inspiration to Iowans who want to become entrepreneurs,” Kristof-Brown said. “I saw firsthand the passion he felt when he engaged with students, inspiring and guiding those who sought to follow his path.”

Marshall said Pappajohn’s entrepreneurial spirit will live on for generations in the UI community.

“John and Mary [Pappajohn] will very long be remembered for their loyalty to the University of Iowa, for their lifetime philanthropy, to the university and for inspiring really generations and tens of thousands of people in their entrepreneurial spirit,” she said.

Pappajohn is survived by his daughter Ann Vassiliou.