In the late 1990s, Viterbo President Bill Medland and members of the Board of Trustees were seeking a good way to honor D.B. Reinhart, the longtime friend of the college who had passed away in 1996. Reinhart was a highly respected businessman and leader who had built his company, Gateway Foods, into the largest privately-owned food wholesaler in the nation.

At the 1998 Viterbo Founders Day banquet, President Bill Medland announced that the university’s new Institute for Ethics in Leadership would be named to honor the memory and legacy of D.B. Reinhart, who had died in April 1996 at age 75.

When William Medland came to Viterbo College in 1991, hired as the institution’s seventh president, he planned to stay for five years. By the time he stepped down as president in 2006, Viterbo had experienced 15 years of growth and transformation, going from a college undergoing financial difficulties to a financially secure, full-fledged university that had experienced 13 straight years of record enrollment.

Activities such as having dinner with Holocaust survivors, speaking with community leaders, event promotion, and website editing work aren’t things the typical Viterbo student gets to experience. Senior nursing major Abbey Fedie has had these and other opportunities, thanks to three years as a D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership Student Fellow.