Real estate mogul Mike Ingram tapped to lead GCU honors college expansion
Grand Canyon University has selected a top Valley real estate developer to bear the name of its expanding honors college.
To be named the Sheila and Mike Ingram Honors College, the honors college will get its own building in the center of GCU’s Phoenix campus, and three dormitories will be dedicated to honors college students, GCU President Brian Mueller told Phoenix Business Journal.
Ingram, founder of Scottsdale-based El Dorado Holdings Inc., said he wasn’t asked to donate additional funds to the university. Instead, he’s been tasked with doubling the size of the honors college enrollment to more than 7,500 honors students to become the biggest honors college in the nation.
“Sheila and I are going to work with them on that,” Ingram said.
Plans call for transforming an existing two-story classroom building into a three-story, 51,000-square-foot structure that is expected to be mostly completed by the fall. It will be part of the GCU Ingram Honors District that will include three residence halls and the renovated academic building to total 644,600 square feet.
Ingram already is a major contributor to GCU, Mueller said.
“He’s been an incredible donor,” Mueller said. “We did not ask him to put up any money for the naming rights, specifically.”
Instead, Mueller wants to tap into Ingram’s vast network to help grow the honors college.
“He’s just one of the most connected individuals I have ever been around in my life,” Mueller said. “We had a bit of an issue in Texas with our nursing program. He had the governor on the line within 20 minutes. He called him directly.”
Ingram also called John C. Maxwell — a world-renowned leadership expert, speaker and New York Times bestselling author — to attend GCU’s fundraising gala in May.
“John said, ‘If you want me to be there in May when you’re raising money for your gala, I’ll be there,'” Mueller said.
Mueller said Ingram was the perfect fit for the honors college not only because of his success as an entrepreneur but due to his commitment to his Christian faith.
“Those two qualities are what we are built on,” Mueller said. “He represents those in a major way.”
Ingram’s Jerry Colangelo GCU connection
A few years ago Jerry Colangelo, founder of Phoenix-based JDM Partners and namesake of GCU’s Colangelo College of Business, invited Ingram to get involved with GCU.
Colangelo, also a sports business icon, and Ingram have been doing business together for nearly 40 years, partnering on real estate development including the 37,000-acre master-planned community they sold to Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. (NYES: HHH) for $600 million in October 2021.
“I got to know Mike when I attended a Bible study that Mike and Jerry organized,” Mueller said.
In September 2024, Colangelo and Ingram joined GCU’s board of trustees.
The honors program does not charge additional fees, and will continue that route, Mueller said.
Breanna Naegeli, dean of the GCU Honors College, has grown it from 59 students in 2013 to 750 students within the first two years. The Honors College became GCU’s ninth official college in 2015.
“We started with 3,000 students this fall,” Naegeli said.
GCU’s honors students boast a 3.9 GPA and a 4.1 weighted GPA, Naegeli said.
“Bringing Mike Ingram into the picture and the Kingdom Impact Council he’s bringing with him will amplify our reach and impact,” she said. “It’s now on a national scale. Mike is one of the most humble individuals I’ve ever met. He is rooted in his faith and family. One of the things he always says is, ‘The more you serve, the more your blessings multiply.”
With nearly a dozen current members, the Kingdom Impact Council will grow to 20 leaders from across the country.
“With Mike, this whole moment is so far from a transaction,” she said. “With Mike it’s about partnership. He’s not just putting his name on something. His vision is to grow the largest, most prominent Christian honors college in the country.”
With 131,826 students, GCU is the nation’s largest Christian university. Of those, 107,148 are online students mainly in graduate programs, and 24,678 are on the Phoenix campus, according to Feb. 18 public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.