Ken Lewis gives $5 million to alma mater

Former Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis has given another gift to the nursing school at his alma mater, Georgia State University: $5 million.

It's the largest gift Lewis has made to the the Byrdine F. Lewis School of Nursing and Health Professions, the university said.

In 2003, the school was named for Lewis' mother after he gave $2.5 million that created an endowment to fund faculty positions, student scholarships and teaching laboratories. That was Lewis' second-largest gift to the school.

The late Byrdine Lewis worked as a bedside nurse for 46 years, much of it as a divorced mother supporting two children, according to the university.

“I know firsthand how hard nurses work and how important they are to their communities,” Lewis said in a university press release. “The many excellent caregivers, therapists and scientists who’ve earned degrees from Georgia State are making that legacy stronger every day. I’m proud of what they’re accomplishing, and I know my mother would be, too.”

Lewis was CEO of Charlotte-based Bank of America from 2001 to 2009, succeeding Hugh McColl Jr. Through various acquisitions, McColl had transformed North Carolina National Bank into a major U.S. financial institution.

Lewis resigned amid criticism about Bank of America's January 2009 purchase of Merrill Lynch and Merrill's mounting losses that shareholders claimed were not disclosed to them before they voted to approve the $50 billion purchase.

In March, the New York attorney general's office announced that Bank of America and Lewis agreed to a $25 million accord to settle claims that investors were not told about the losses before the vote.

Lewis, who is responsible for paying $10 million of the settlement, has also agreed to a ban against him serving as an officer or director of a public company for three years. Bank of America agreed to pay the remaining $15 million and to strengthen corporate governance in its board of directors.