Overview: The Gallagher-Bluedorn Families
The Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, located on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, was made possible through the gifts of over 1,400 private donors in partnership with the University of Northern Iowa and the state of Iowa. It is named in honor of two prominent couples who each contributed $1 million or more to the project.
Carl and Peggy Bluedorn (L) and Cathy and Edward J. Gallagher Jr.(R), shown here with UNI President Robert Koob, have all been active supporters of the communities of Waterloo, Cedar Falls and the greater Cedar Valley area.
Edward Gallagher is the senior partner in the Gallagher, Langlas & Gallagher law firm and is a lifelong resident of Waterloo. He is a graduate of Loras College in Dubuque and Georgetown University Law School in Washington, D.C., and also received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Loras. He currently serves as chairman of the UNI Foundation Board of Trustees. As a board member since 1990, he co-chaired the Cedar Valley Major Gifts Campaign for the center that bears his name.
Gallagher
is president of the Northeast Iowa Community Foundation, immediate past
president and member of the Grout Museum Board of Directors, a board member
of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony, a founding member of the Iowa chapter
of the American Board of Trial Advocacy and is active in the Rotary and
Elks organizations. He is president of the Gallagher Family Foundation.
Gallagher also has served on the board of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers; is past president of the Iowa chapter of the American College of Trial Lawyers; past president of the Iowa Academy of Trial Lawyers; a member of the state and national bar associations; and a member of the International Society of Barristers. Gallagher served on the Board of Regents of Loras College for nine years and now serves as regent emeritus.
Of the four major donors, Cathy Gallagher is the only graduate of UNI. She first attended Clarke College in Dubuque and later earned a bachelor's degree in political science at the university. She is on the Board of Trustees of Clarke College, a partner in Gallagher Realty and also serves as secretary-treasurer of the Gallagher Family Foundation.
Cathy Gallagher is a past president of the Symphony Guild, past president of Covenant Hospital Auxiliary and a past officer of the Junior League of Waterloo-Cedar Falls. Both Gallaghers are members of the Columbus High School Hall of Fame.
Carl Bluedorn died in 1997, 13 days after ground was broken for the center which bears his name. Bluedorn earned a civil engineering degree from Iowa State University in 1931. The following year he began work at Zeidler's Inc., a Waterloo concrete manufacturer, and eventually served as the company's president and chairman of the board.
The Bluedorns were involved with many projects at UNI, including helping to raise money for the UNI-Dome, and supporting Panther athletics. They have also aided projects at Iowa State University and Wartburg College, where Carl Bluedorn received an honorary Doctor of Law degree.
Bluedorn's civic activities included leadership positions for the Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, Cedar Valley United Way, Black Hawk Civic Committee, Waterloo Industrial Development Association, National Cattle Congress, Waterloo Urban Renewal Board, the Winnebago Council of Boy Scouts and the board of trustees of the Grout Museum.
The couple helped develop Waterloo's Carl and Peggy Bluedorn Science Imaginarium, and were involved with the construction of the Cedar Valley Nature Trail. Peggy Bluedorn was active in the Hawkeye Chapter of the American Red Cross for many years.
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