ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 14, 2026--
Centurion Foundation today announced that it is launching a national higher education real estate platform, expanding the foundation’s work to support mission-driven nonprofit institutions through strategic real estate, financing, development, ownership and facility solutions. To lead Centurion’s expanded efforts in the higher education sector, Mason Ailstock has joined the foundation as President of Higher Education Services.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260714330075/en/
In this new role, Ailstock will lead the Foundation’s expanded efforts in higher education, working with colleges, universities, academic healthcare institutions and other mission-driven nonprofits across the country. His focus will include helping institutions evaluate and deliver real estate and facility strategies that support their academic, research, healthcare, workforce and economic development goals.
“Just as we have delivered charitable leasing solutions to healthcare organizations since 2018, we are excited to deliver similar solutions and significant cost savings in higher education,” said Ben Mingle, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Centurion Foundation. “With higher education institutions across the country navigating significant financial and operational pressures, now is the time for us to expand our efforts to serve this sector. We are thrilled to welcome Mason to our team. His experience, relationships and deep understanding of mission-driven development make him an ideal leader for this expansion of Centurion’s work.”
Centurion Foundation is a charitable 501(c)(3) organization that helps nonprofit organizations achieve their purpose by developing, arranging financing, leasing, owning, and operating facilities. Since 1996, Centurion has worked alongside nonprofit healthcare providers, higher education institutions, and public-sector partners to deliver customized real estate and financial solutions that lower costs, accelerate delivery and support long-term institutional success.
Ailstock brings two decades of experience advancing complex, mission-driven real estate initiatives at the intersection of higher education, healthcare, industry and government. He most recently served as President and CEO of the Rowen Foundation, where he led the planning, partnerships, and early execution of Rowen, Georgia’s 2,000-acre knowledge community.
During his leadership at Rowen, Ailstock played a central role in building institutional partnerships, advancing public-private collaboration, positioning the project for long-term development, and attracting significant private investment aligned with Rowen’s mission, including the recent $2 billion UCB biomanufacturing announcement. Prior to Rowen, Ailstock served as the Chief Operating Officer of North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park Foundation. His work on both projects brought together diverse public and private higher education institutions and industry through real estate and economic investments.
“I am honored to join Centurion Foundation and build on its strong record of serving nonprofit institutions,” said Ailstock. “Higher education and academic healthcare institutions are central to the future of our nation, our workforce, and our economy. Centurion’s mission, model and collaborative approach create a powerful platform to help these institutions advance their purpose nationally.”
Ailstock’s appointment reflects Centurion’s continued commitment to serving nonprofit partners in healthcare and higher education with creative, mission-aligned solutions that help institutions grow, adapt, and deliver lasting impact.
About Centurion Foundation
Centurion Foundation is a private-sector, charitable 501(c)(3) organization that provides real estate transaction expertise, strategic leadership, financing, development, ownership, and facility solutions to nonprofit health systems, institutions of higher education, and local governments. Centurion helps nonprofit organizations advance their charitable purpose by equipping them with the financial and technical resources needed to fulfill their mission.
Mason Ailstock, President of Higher Education Services, Centurion Foundation.
NEW YORK (AP) — Infections from the diarrhea-causing parasite cyclospora are surging, with state-level data suggesting that 2026 is already the nation's worst year for reported cases.
More than 30 states have reported infections this year, and current data from them shows the number of infections surpassing the record U.S. mark of about 4,700 set in 2019. The illness is not usually life threatening and is typically treated with antibiotics.
Health officials have not yet definitively identified what is causing the infections. On Tuesday, federal health officials said there may be different infection patterns in different places, although they believe cases in at least four states — Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia — are linked.
In Michigan — where more than 3,300 cases have been reported — officials say early information points to lettuce or salad greens as a possible culprit.
After conducting more than 1,000 interviews with patients, “early information has shown lettuce as a common product that regularly comes up during the investigation,” said Natasha Bagdasarian, the Michigan health department's chief medical executive.
Because of that commonality and because produce has been behind some past cyclospora outbreaks, Michigan officials advised consumers to buy whole heads of lettuce, discard the outer layers and thoroughly wash what is left. They also suggested people avoid bagged lettuce and pre-mixed salad kits.
On Tuesday, the Taco Bell restaurant chain issued a statement saying it had “voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and follow the guidance of public health authorities."
In a call with reporters on Tuesday, federal health officials did not directly respond to a question about whether they are looking at Taco Bell or any specific food vendor or distributor.
“FDA certainly is continuing its traceback investigation on multiple produce items, also including locations that are reported by the case patients before they became sick,” said Donald Prater, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Acting Deputy Commissioner for Food, in response.
Cyclospora is a microscopic, spherical parasite that commonly causes watery diarrhea “with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Outbreaks tend to occur most often in the late spring and summer.
The heat-loving parasite infects the bowels and spreads through feces. In the past, people have been infected by consuming fruits or vegetables that were exposed to feces-contaminated irrigation water.
The illness, called cyclosporiasis, is less common than foodborne illnesses caused by other germs, including salmonella and E. coli. Many cases are never linked to a specific food or other source and, for years, few U.S. cyclospora outbreaks were reported. But the number started rising about a decade ago, with a particularly notable spike in 2018 and 2019.
Experts say it's likely that cyclospora cases historically were underreported, in part because some common tests used to check for food poisoning have not been geared to detect cyclospora. They attribute the increasing trend in cases to climate change and better detection.
The worst year in the U.S. for infections was 2019, when about 4,700 illnesses were reported, according to federal data on confirmed and suspected cases.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keeps those numbers, but they traditionally lag what is posted by individual city and state health departments dealing with local outbreaks in real time. On Tuesday, CDC officials issued a health alert that said that since May 1, the agency is aware of 1,645 confirmed domestic cases and more than 5,100 that require further analysis to confirm whether the infections were acquired in the U.S. The reports come from 34 states, and no deaths have been reported, the CDC said.
The true number of cases is likely larger than what has been reported so far because some people may have milder illnesses that they don't seek care for, said Gwen Biggerstaff, deputy director of CDC’s Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases, in the call with reporters.
It can take days to weeks for someone exposed to the parasite to develop symptoms. It's not clear to what extent people currently are being infected, or whether many of the exposures happened earlier. But Biggerstaff said official expect that case numbers will continue to grow through August.
The CDC also posted information about the investigation of an outbreak affecting the four states.
The federal alert did not detail how many reports came from each state. But Michigan officials have reported more than 3,300 cases, officials in northwest Ohio said they have seen more than 1,100, New York City officials counted more than 400 and Illinois reported more than 200.
Officials do not think all can be tied to a common source. In Illinois, for example, more than half the people with infections said they had traveled outside the United States, and at least some may have been infected elsewhere.
But Michigan officials believe a large share of their total is likely due to a linked domestic outbreak. CDC officials did not go into detail about why they currently think cases in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia are part of the same outbreak.
Associated Press writer Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit contributed to this report.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
This undated photo taken through a microscope provided by the CDC shows Cyclospora cayetanensis oocysts found in a fresh stool sample which had been prepared with a formalin solution and stained with safranin. (CDC via AP)
