NEWPORT, R.I. -- A newly constructed, 23,000-square-foot academic wing on Salve Regina University’s seaside campus has been named in honor of Cumberland Farms chairman Lily Haseotes Bentas for her longtime friendship and service to the university.
The Lily Haseotes Bentas Center was dedicated during a ceremony Sept. 17. U.S. senators Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) offered remarks, along with members of the Haseotes family and representatives from the Salve Regina community. The center will house the Department of Business Studies and Economics, along with its business outreach program, the Rodgers Family Department of Nursing, student common areas, classrooms, conference areas and faculty offices.
“Lily Bentas’s support of Salve Regina extends far beyond the boardroom, proving that the values of family, friendship, community and corporate responsibility truly make a difference in this world,” said Jane Gerety, president of Salve Regina, Newport, R.I. “Lily has contributed greatly to the excellence of Salve Regina through her generosity of time, experience and resources. We will be forever grateful for her longtime friendship and support.”
Bentas’ leadership and generosity have helped advance the university mission in far-reaching ways. She has been a trustee since 2007. Her support helped build Our Lady of Mercy Chapel and establish the Antone Academic Center and raise scholarship funds. Her generosity also supported the establishment of the Nuala Pell Leadership Program in Public Service, which prepares future generations of leaders through specialized training. She established the Lily Haseotes Bentas Scholarship in Business Studies, which is awarded to a female undergraduate who aspires to a career in business and who demonstrates a commitment to building community through ethical practice.
Bentas is the daughter of Vasilios and Aphrodite Haseotes, who started Cumberland Farms as a single-cow farm in Cumberland, R.I., in 1939. Opening its first convenience store in 1957, Cumberland Farms has since grown into a multibillion-dollar corporation that employs 8,000 people. It operates 600 c-stores with gasoline in eight states throughout the Northeast and Florida.
Bentas, who has served in a variety of leadership positions at Cumberland Farms for 40 years, is a former member of the board of directors for the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS).
“An inspiration and role model for all business people, most especially aspiring young, professional women, Lily has been my most trusted business partner and mentor in addition to being my beloved aunt,” said Ari Haseotes, Cumberland Farms president and CEO. “Lily is the picture of humility and grace. Never forgetting the humble roots from which our family has come and always remembering that our success as a family in business is most heavily attributed to the many thousands whom we call members of our team and a commitment to continuously investing in our people and our business over the long term.”
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