06-11-2023 HOF - Flipbook - Page 13
Baltimore Sun Media | Sunday, June 11, 2023 13
W
hen Kennedy Krieger Institute was searching for a new
president and CEO in the
1980s, Michael and Patricia
Batza, who have long been
affiliated with the Baltimore-based medical institution serving young people
with developmental and
neurological needs, opened
their home to a candidate who was flown in for an interview. (Gary W. Goldstein was, incidentally, hired — and lasted more than 30 years on the job.) The
unusual move was typical of the kind of outreach and personal commitment
the Batzas are known for as one of the region’s most respected philanthropic
families.
For Goucher College, Mercy Medical Center, the National Aquarium and
many others, the Batzas have been a fundraising force, without pretense or
condition. They are known for their graciousness, for their warmth and for
their ability to help charitable institutions receive the support they need in
their important missions.
“They are the exemplar of perfect philanthropists. They really are,” says Kent
Devereaux, president of Goucher College. “Some donors want their names on
buildings. Or they want strings attached, so it’s really only for certain students.
Mike and Pattie aren’t that way at all. They ask, ‘What do you need?’ Then
they step out of the way — as they look for ways to inspire others to give too.”
At Mercy Medical Center, Sister Helen Amos, the hospital’s president and
CEO from 1992 to 1999, learned of Mr. Batza’s reputation from his efforts on
behalf of the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore.
Ages: 81 and 78, respectively
Hometowns: Derby, Connecticut, and Warren, Ohio
Current residence: Towson
Education: Mr. Batza earned a B.A. in economics from Colgate University;
Mrs. Batza earned a B.A. in philosophy from Goucher College
Career highlights: Mr. Batza is a co-founder of Meridian
Health Care and owner and chairman of Heritage Properties Inc.;
Mrs. Batza is president of the Batza Family Foundation
Civic and charitable activities: Mr. Batza is a trustee and past chairman
of Kennedy Krieger Institute, a trustee with Mercy Medical Center as well as
Mercy Ridge, chairman of the Batza Family Foundation, and board member
and past chairman of the board of the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
Mrs. Batza has been a trustee with Goucher College since 1997, serving a
variety of positions with the school, including national co-chair of the Campaign
for Goucher. She has served as a board member for the Institute of Islamic,
Christian and Jewish Studies; Marian House; and Historic Hampton, and on
the advisory boards of the Center for Women’s Health and Medicine at Mercy
Medical Center and the Notre Dame of Maryland University, among others.
The couple received the John Franklin Goucher Award in 2013 and were named
“Philanthropists of the Year”by the United Way of Central Maryland in 1998
Family: Three children; six grandchildren
So she asked him in the late 1990s,
after he’d joined Mercy’s board,
if he could please help the downtown hospital launch its first capital
campaign. He wrote out some ideas
on the back ofa paper napkin. “Here’s
how you start,” she recalls him telling her. From that modest beginning
came a Mercy Society where donors
would be expected to give $1,000
each year. Mr. Batza wrote a check
for $10,000. By the end of the first
capital campaign, Mercy had raised
more than $40 million, money that
would allow the Sisters of Mercy to
expand, build a new hospital tower,
offer more services and create a
“community of compassionate care.”
“I feel like when I convinced him
to be on our board, I hit the jackpot,”
says Amos, who is a member of The
Sun’s first Hall of Fame class and still
serves as executive chair of Mercy’s
board of trustees. “Mike has proven
himself to be a true leader.”
At the National Aquarium, the
Batzas have been helping lead fundraising efforts for more than two
decades. A 1,087-square-foot stainless steel kitchen added in 2018 to
the National Aquarium’s Animal
Care and Rescue Center on East
Fayette Street is among their most
high-profile contributions. “It would
be the envy of any home, except it
doesn’t have ovens as our chief
constituents don’t like their food
cooked,” says John Racanelli, the
National Aquarium’s president and
CEO, adding that the Batzas’ “giving
reflects a love of humans, too.”
The couple’s charitable work
began with modest roots. Mrs. Batza
was raised in Warren, Ohio; Mr.
Batza was born in Derby, Connecticut, but grew up on Long Island.
Both moved to Chicago, where
they met and eventually married,
moving to Baltimore in 1969. One of
Mr. Batza’s big breaks was co-founding Meridian Healthcare, a nursing
home provider that was bought
out by Genesis Health Ventures
Inc. for more than $200 million in
1993. After the sale, Mr. Batza was
able to start Heritage Properties, a
real estate development firm that
has developed and managed more
than 6 million square feet of projects,
including offices, warehouses and
mixed-use facilities. But charity was
always part of the family dynamic,
even before they had the resources to
supercharge capital campaigns. And
now, their children and grandchildren are following in their footsteps.
The Batzas giving philosophy?
“We look for things that fit our
ideals about impact on community
and family,” Mrs. Batza says. “We
really have to believe in the purpose
and the mission, the vision. And
then, when we feel strongly, we kind
of throw ourselves into it and do our
very best.”
The family’s involvement in
Kennedy Krieger, for example,
traces how their own daughter
Meggan was helped at the institute
(she now works there as an assistant librarian). At Meridian, Mr.
Batza and his partners were firm
about how the long-term welfare
of residents outweighed the quarterly balance sheet, and took what
was once a public company private
in a reverse leveraged buyout. “As a
private company, we could be more
involved in the community,” he
recalls. Looking out for family and,
by extension, the community where
family members live, is simply built
into their DNA. Even business partners and their families are part of the
Batza family, something about which
they are quite proud.
Education is also a constant theme
in the Batza charitable ventures. Mr.
Batza is a longtime supporter of his
alma mater, Colgate University, and
served on its board for 15 years and
even now serves as a trustee emeritus. Together, the Batzas have
co-chaired the Goucher capital
campaign “Transcending Boundaries,” exceeding goals the school had
set. They are also always looking
to help underserved communities,
particularly in Baltimore. “I think
the cause has to fit into our ideals
about impact on the community
and on family,” Mrs. Batza says. “We
really have to believe in the purpose
and the mission, the vision. And
then if we feel strongly, we kind of
throw ourselves into it and do our
very best.”
“They are such real people. They
are like an open book,” marvels
Nancy Grasmick, the former Maryland superintendent of schools and
a Hall of Fame 2016 class member,
who has known them for decades.
“They are just warm and interactive
and caring. They are Baltimore treasures.”
— Peter Jensen
