A $5 million donation from a St. Paul woman’s estate will support the University of Minnesota’s Department of German, Scandinavian and Dutch and its Center for German and European Studies.

The gift comes from the estate of Hella Mears, who was born in Germany, worked as an actress and came to the United States on the dime of inventor Norman Mears, whom she later married. Norman Mears is the namesake of Mears Park in downtown St. Paul.

After Norman Mears’ death, she married Bill Hueg, vice president of agriculture for the University of Minnesota.

She and Hueg established multiple fellowships at the U. The $5 million gift will fund those fellowships in perpetuity and create two new funds to support student scholarships, research and outreach, including study abroad and the U’s College in the Schools German program.