Founder of Student Investment Program - Stephen L. Hawk

On October 15, 1999, over 165 alumni and friends of the Applied Security Analysis Program gathered at the biennial ASAP reunion and conference in Madison to pay tribute to former Professor Stephen L. Hawk. Following through on a pledge made at the 1997 ASAP reunion, alumni donated $3.6 million out of a total $6 million goal to endow the ASAP. An interim goal of $3 million had been set as the amount needed to name the Center for Hawk, the program's founder. Fundraising will continue until the $6 million goal is reached.

In remarks at the dedication ceremony, Professor Howard Thompson, chair of the Finance Department, told the alumni and friends gathered, "Your gift helps assure that Steve's legacy will be passed to students in generations to come. Your gift helps to keep the Finance Department strong. But you must realize that your gift is more than money. Your interest and participation with the ASAP and the Finance Department at the University of Wisconsin - Madison are important parts of the gift you give. It has, it can, and it will have a profound influence on the quality of education we provide at Wisconsin."

Hawk is chairman and CEO of Northern Capital Management in Madison. He served as the ASAP faculty advisor for the first 13 years of the program and continues to be involved as a member of the ASAP advisory board.

Established in 1970 with a gift of $100,000 from the Brittingham Trust, the ASAP is a prototype for applied programs at many other universities. The program offers students the opportunity to develop as investment analysts and portfolio managers through hands-on management of real funds. Students currently manage $40 million in fixed income securities for the UW System, about $2.0 million in equities, and approximately $1 million in REITs.

The conference and reunion also featured a tribute to the late Professor Frank Graner. Graner was on the UW faculty for 21 years, beginning in 1948, and is credited for having the original vision of a program that would teach students about investment by managing real money. Hawk is among Graner's many students who went on to become major successes in the investment world. Irwin Smith, Ted Kellner and Albert O. (Ab) Nicholas are other former Graner students who spoke at the tribute.

A copy of the written tribute to Graner can be requested by calling the Finance Department at (608) 262-6032. For more information on the Hawk Center and the Applied Security Analysis Program, please contact us at (608) 263-3469 or visit the ASAP Web site.