Development Priorities

Philanthropy facilitates the pursuit and accomplishment of our most important strategic priorities.

Private support is essential for the Wisconsin School of Business to achieve its goals and initiatives. At every level, business schools are in an intense competition for top faculty, students and relationships with recruiters. We strive for excellence in each area so that Wisconsin graduates are better prepared than their peers and have the best opportunities awaiting them.

Thanks to significant major gifts, greater revenues from new programs and careful allocation of resources, we have made great strides in recent years. The Wisconsin Naming Gift is another critical step on our path.

While the impact of the school’s recent naming gift is enormous, to truly be successful on a sustainable basis, we also need the support of a much larger percentage of our alumni. Gifts to our Annual Fund provide the resources to flexibly invest in top priorities. Increasing the percentage of alumni who provide financial support will be a key priority in the year ahead.

RECENT DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTS

M. Keith Weikel Executive Leadership Speaker Series and Chair in Leadership
A speaker series to enable Wisconsin MBA students to interact with and learn from real-world business leaders was established in 2004 with a gift from John J. Oros, BBA ’71, and his wife, Anne Wackman. In 2007, the series continues via a gift by M. Keith Weikel, Ph.D. ’66, and his wife, Barbara. He is the retired senior executive vice president and COO of ManorCare, Inc. of Toledo, Ohio. The M. Keith Weikel Chair in Leadership will provide resources to support a faculty member in leadership study.

James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate
In April 2007, the Center for Real Estate was renamed the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate in memory of the legendary figure in real estate education. More than 250 alumni and friends attended a dedication held to recognize the generosity and hard work of those commemorating his life and legacy and to celebrate the bright future of the Wisconsin real estate program. Nearly 600 alumni and friends raised almost $11 million in gifts to honor James Graaskamp and support Wisconsin’s premier real estate program.

Wisconsin MBA Class of 2007 Campaign
The Wisconsin School of Business continued to make major strides in 2006-07 in creating a “culture of giving” among recent graduates. The full-time Wisconsin MBA Class of 2007 had 99 percent participation in a class gift campaign, compared to 30 percent the prior year. Gifts were matched by Dean’s Advisory Board members.

Grainger Addition
Over the past year, significant funding for the addition was provided. A classroom in the addition was made possible by gifts from Jeffrey J. Diermeier, BBA `74, MBA `75, and Julie Diermeier. Daniel Huber, BBA `58, and Pat Huber provided a gift for the additions’s new undergraduate computer lab.




The fundraising priorities listed below remain the focus of our philanthropic efforts. While all gifts are welcome, expendable gifts allow the Wisconsin School of Business to fund immediate needs to implement the school’s strategy. For example, a $50,000 annual gift is equivalent to the income from a $1 million endowment.

FACULTY

The increasingly competitive market for top faculty talent makes recruiting and retention of our nationally recognized faculty critical to the success of our strategy. Funds are needed for:

Faculty Chairs
Endowed chairs, the highest honor bestowed by the university, help keep the school competitive in the market for the best faculty.

Professorships
This support frees selected faculty to concentrate on creating new courses and improving existing ones, while maintaining research productivity. It also helps maximize scholarly contributions of those at the most productive stages of their careers.

Junior Faculty Research Awards
Talented business graduates choose to enter academia so they can conduct independent research and share knowledge with students. To recruit and retain these exceptional scholars and teachers, it is imperative we provide support for development and maintenance of their research infrastructure.

PROGRAM SUPPORT

Wisconsin MBA Centers
Both emerging and existing Wisconsin MBA Centers are in need of additional support. Gifts made to these centers support students, faculty, staff, and facilities for specific career specializations that comprise the core of the Wisconsin MBA.

Student Organization Endowment
Student organizations provide an opportunity for students to gain leadership skills. This endowment will help underwrite events and field trips by undergraduate student organizations and provide staff to help ensure these experiences provide rewarding and useful training.

Visiting Alumni Program
One of our greatest assets is our alumni base, which we intend to use more effectively by bringing alumni and friends to campus for interaction with students in classes, student organizations and in other settings to provide a variety of real-world expertise.

Accounting Program
The Accounting Program has launched a campaign to raise funds to double enrollment in the existing Five Year Master of Accountancy Program and develop a graduate degree program for students without undergraduate accounting majors. Gifts are also needed to support faculty, scholarships, curriculum development and classroom technology.

STUDENTS

The competition to recruit outstanding students at all levels has increased. Support is needed for:

PhD Support
Strong PhD students add value to faculty research and provide teaching support for the undergraduate and master’s programs. Fellowships offer financial assistance and recognition.

Master’s Student Support
In addition to targeted support offered through the Wisconsin MBA centers, the school offers more general master’s support in the form of project, teaching or research assistantships.

Undergraduate Student Support
During an era of rising tuition, undergraduate scholarships help preserve access to superior education for all qualified students.

FACILITIES

Building Project
Construction of a separate space for the MBA program is nearing completion. This additional space will also create opportunities to reconfigure and renovate Grainger Hall to better serve the undergraduate and PhD programs. Classroom naming opportunities are still available and remain a priority.

Grainger Hall Preservation
Private money made Grainger Hall a superior facility; additional private support will maintain it at a high caliber