New York, N.Y. — Dr. Bill Bauer, vice president of The J. Luce Foundation, announced today the first recipients of the foundation’s Bauer Fund. “My family is delighted to inform our first three beneficiaries that we are honoring them with grants in honor and memory of our son and Grant who passed away from suicide in 2014,” Bill stated.
Photo courtesy of the Bauer Family.
The Bauer Fund is one of the foundation’s many initiatives to create a better humanity and world.
The awards have been announced on the anniversary of Grant’s passing, September 5.
Grant had just turned 25 and, in the minds of his family, had his whole life ahead of him.
He loved reading, swimming, and music and had the ability to make people laugh.
His smile was infectious. Grant would not want his friends and family to continue to ask “Why” but instead to ask “How?” How can we help? How can we make a difference?
The grants are to be used for promotion, prevention and/or research in
the areas of suicide awareness and prevention, mental health issues,
and or program development for people with intellectual disabilities.
The Bauer Fund promotes the use of Random Acts of Kindness (RAKs) throughout the year but is primarily focused on GRANT Day (September 5) and Grant Week (September 5-12).
The J. Luce Foundation promotes young global leadership impacting positive social change and the NGOs that support them, particularly in the fields of the Arts, Education, and Orphan Care.
James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation, Inc. Founded in New York City in 2007, the James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to supporting young global leadership.
Named after Jim (James Jay Dudley) Luce, it focuses on fostering international understanding and empowering future leaders to make a positive impact on the world. It is known as “J. Luce Foundation” for short.
The 2016 inaugural awards recipients are:
National: Fountain House
Fountain House developed the first successful working community to address the devastating social impact of mental illness. It was founded on the premise that people living with mental illness are active participants in their recovery. Each year, over 1,300 members come to Fountain House to contribute their talents, learn new skills, access opportunities, and to make new friendships.
Fountain House members, in partnership with staff, operate employment, education, wellness, and housing programs.
They perform all vital community activities, including advocacy, communications, food preparation, administrative support and participation on the Board of Directors.
Programs are designed to provide opportunities and to produce the desire and confidence to pursue them.
Fountain House creates a culture that transforms lives. Members experience fewer hospitalizations, improved overall wellness, a reduced sense of isolation and increased fulfillment, purpose, and stability.
Fountain House is a local working community with a global reach. Since 1948, Fountain House has inspired the creation of hundreds of programs worldwide, which serve more than 100,000 people. In 2014, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation recognized Fountain House’s global influence and the efficacy of its evidence-based model with the prestigious Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize.
to the Mid-Ohio Valley through community outreach. Photo: MOVLAA.
Regional: Mid-Ohio Valley Learning About Addiction (MOVLAA)
Initiated in 2016 in direct response to the escalating opioid and heroin epidemic affecting the region, the Mid-Ohio Valley Learning About Addiction (MOVLAA) was established as a grassroots initiative aimed at addressing the growing crisis through education and community engagement. Recognizing the urgent need for accurate information and coordinated support, MOVLAA was founded with two primary and complementary goals.
First, MOVLAA seeks to gather, organize, and disseminate high-quality, up-to-date information about addiction-related resources and services available throughout the Mid-Ohio Valley.
This includes connecting individuals and families with treatment centers, recovery programs, mental health services, support groups, and emergency intervention options. By serving as a centralized hub of reliable information, MOVLAA helps ensure that those affected by addiction—whether directly or indirectly—can access the help they need without confusion or delay.
Second, the organization is dedicated to raising public awareness about the nature of addiction and the impact it has on individuals, families, and communities. Through a variety of community outreach efforts—including educational events, public forums, partnerships with local schools and civic groups, and awareness campaigns—MOVLAA strives to reduce stigma, promote understanding, and foster a compassionate, informed approach to addiction and recovery in the region.
Together, these dual missions empower the Mid-Ohio Valley community to respond to the addiction crisis with knowledge, empathy, and coordinated action.
J. Luce Foundation Scholar
Brendan Adkinson is a recent graduate of Marietta College where he majored in Biochemistry, Neuroscience, and Spanish.
At Marietta, he was an active participant in the Pioneer Pipeline Program, an on-campus mentorship program that matches high school students who have intellectual disabilities with college students for vocational, academic, and social-recreational coaching.
Brendan was also a Letterman on the varsity football team before switching to the tennis team where he was a captain.
He has a diverse range of multicultural experiences ranging from serving as a delegate to the 2014 U.S.-China Student Summit to supervising a tri-state mobile health unit that provided free health screenings in locations including migrant farmworker camps and inner-city neighborhoods.
Brendan recently presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research and the Multiple Perspectives on Access, Inclusion, and Disability Conference.
Brendan now has a two-year research position within the laboratory of Dr. Alan Anticevic, Co-Director of Yale University School of Medicine‘s new Division of Neurocognition, Neurocomputation, and Neurogenetics.
The laboratory harnesses the combination of task-based, resting-state, and pharmacological functional neuroimaging, as well as computational modeling approaches, in order to mechanistically understand neural circuit dysfunction in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.
“I wake up everyday feeling blessed to be doing something that I love and excited to be making a contribution to efforts like these,” he says of his work in the Anticevic Laboratory.
“The balance between one-on-one patient interaction and the other facets of our research is perfect for me.”
Brendan plans to apply to M.D.-Ph.D. programs and eventually pursue a career in clinical research centered around mental illness.
He says his interest in mental health is rooted in the loss of his best friend, Matt, who took his own life after a secret battle with drug addiction before their senior year of high school:
“This will forever remain the most tragic experience of my life – one that will follow me wherever I go. Yet, from it, I will be able to better serve others throughout my career in research and medicine.
When people go through things like this I can tell them that I not only empathize with them, but that I truly understand.”
When he’s not carrying out research, Adkinson is taking steps to combat the social stigma surrounding mental health.
“When it comes to issues like suicide, addiction, and mental illness, we live in a society plagued by stigma and silence. I want to be a major force in bringing these issues out of the darkness,” he says.
He is currently looking to partner with a non-profit organization to raise funds for grants promoting in-school and on-campus mental health awareness and activism.
Upon receiving word of this recognition, Brendan said, “I’m very humbled by the fact that the Luce Foundation and Bauer Fund would consider me for this award and I’m looking forward to taking further steps to embody the principles of young global leadership.”
Following Son’s Suicide, The Bauer Fund Announces First Award Recipients (June 1, 2025).
Originally published in The Huffington Post, Sept. 5, 2016.
75-Word Audio Summary
The J. Luce Foundation’s Bauer Fund, established in memory of Grant Bauer, announces its first awardees: Fountain House, MOVLAA, and Yale researcher Brendan Adkinson. These recipients exemplify commitment to mental health, addiction awareness, and intellectual disability support. The Fund seeks to transform grief into action and stigma into empathy, promoting change through advocacy, education, and Random Acts of Kindness. Grant’s legacy lives on in these efforts to build a more compassionate world.
