Home > Update > March 2008

A Day Like No Other; $85 Million Naming Gift Launches a New Era For the Wisconsin School of Business

By Lari Fanlund

It was a clear, cool October morning in Madison, a few hours before the Homecoming football game between Wisconsin and Indiana was due to kick off.

Top: Several members of the Wisconsin Naming Partnership joined Governor Jim Doyle, University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor John Wiley and Dean Michael Knetter for the announcement of the Wisconsin Naming Gift.

Middle: Baseball hats with the new logo of the Wisconsin School of Business proved popular with Dean Knetter (l.) and Chancellor Wiley, and with others on hand to share in the good news.

Bottom: Wisconsin Business Alumni, led by members of the UW Marching Band and Wisconsin cheerleaders, had even more to cheer for than usual.

Photos by Bruce Fritz

Several hundred red-and-white-clad alumni and friends of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business were roaming Grainger Hall’s atrium on October 27, 2007 for the pre-game Homecoming Bash. It seemed like a day of the usual festivities.

In fact, it was a pivotal moment in the school’s more than 100-year history.

There had been some indication that something major was in the works. Emails sent the prior day urged business school alumni, faculty and staff, students and the media to expect a major announcement concerning the future of the business school. Business school alumni around the world were encouraged to watch a special live webcast.

At 10 a.m., Dean Michael Knetter walked to the microphone with Chancellor John Wiley, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and a handful of prominent alumni near by. Knetter confirmed that indeed something major was in the works. Just how major was confirmed moments later. Alumnus Ted Kellner, chairman and CEO of Fiduciary Management, announced that the school had received an $80 million naming gift— the largest single gift in the history of the university.

Kellner told the assembled crowd that the naming gift was made possible by the contributions of a small group of alumni who had formed the “Wisconsin Naming Partnership.” The naming gift was not to name the school for any one individual, but to preserve the Wisconsin name for 20 years.

UW-Madison Chancellor John D. Wiley called the gift, “a creative act of philanthropy and a major milestone for our university. These partners have stepped forward to ensure that their deep pride in this school, this university and this state is passed along to the next generation of business students.”

As the formal gift was announced, a drumroll sounded, and a huge banner displaying a new Wisconsin School of Business logo was unveiled from a balcony overlooking the atrium.

At first, the crowd seemed stunned by the magnitude of the news. The applause began slowly but then gradually swelled, until the atrium was ringing.

Many paths led up to that October morning.

When Dean Michael Knetter joined the UW-Madison School of Business in 2002, he recognized that obtaining a naming gift to provide resources needed to compete with other top schools had to be at the top of his to-do list. He began meeting with individuals with both strong ties to the school and the resources to make such a significant commitment.

Over time, though, he came to have doubts about the conventional approach of naming a school for an individual. “So many people have contributed to the success of our business school over many years,” he recalled recently. “Naming it for just one person didn’t seem right or in keeping with the team approach that Wisconsin is known for. Also, as an economist by training, the opportunity cost of having a one-time naming disturbed me. We had seen how the price tag for naming business schools kept soaring and knew that whatever amount seemed appropriate today would likely seem less so in the future.”

Knetter began raising the possibility of what he called a “no-name naming gift” with potential donors. At first, because it was so unusual, it was a bit of a hard sell, Knetter concedes. Once a handful of prominent alumni with long-time ties to the school came on board, however, Knetter found that the concept gained momentum. “Once we reached the $50 million threshold, we knew we had a winner—but no one anticipated that ultimately the Wisconsin Naming Gift would reach $85 million.”

In all, gifts were made by: Paul and Carol Collins; Wade and Beverly Fetzer; Pete and Pat Frechette; Jon and Ann Hammes; Ted and Mary Kellner; Paul and Julie Leff; Sheldon B. and Marianne Lubar; John and Tashia Morgridge; Albert O. “Ab” and Nancy Nicholas; John and Anne Oros; H. Signe Ostby and Scott Cook; and two donors who wished to remain anonymous. Each partner committed a minimum of $5 million.

Within hours, the naming gift for the Wisconsin School of Business became national—then international— news. BusinessWeek, CNN, CBS Radio, the New York Times and hundreds of other media outlets ran stories on the gift. Newspapers from as far away as France and China carried an
Associated Press feature story on the gift.

Media coverage complimented the Wisconsin School of Business approach for ingenuity – and altruism. Some sample headlines:

• “Wisconsin’s Twist on the Name Game” (BusinessWeek)
• “No-name gift is grand” (Wisconsin State Journal)
• “‘Unprecedented’ university donation keeps names out” (USA Today)

Two unique aspects of the gift were responsible for the widespread media interest.

First, the fact that the naming gift was actually a “no-name gift.” The donors did not wish to have their own names attached. “It is an unprecedented act of selfless philanthropy,” Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president for the American Council on Education, told the Associated Press. “I hope it is the start of a trend.”

The other unique aspect of the gift was that the naming is only for 20 years, rather than in perpetuity. By preserving the Wisconsin name for 20 years, the gift preserves the option value of future naming gifts—a bit of “practice what we teach” that no other business school had thought to implement.
Helping to spread the word were full-page advertisements announcing the gift that ran the following Monday in the national edition of the Wall Street Journal and in several major Midwest newspapers,

The ads generated even more buzz about the gift. Wisconsin Business Alumni from across the country were soon calling, writing and emailing to express their pleasure at the good news. Wisconsin Business Alumni events held at cities throughout the U.S in the months following the naming gift attracted record attendance from alumni eager to hear more about the gift and celebrate the new era for the school.
What motivated those involved to contribute to the Wisconsin Naming Gift? Several pointed to their long-time ties to the school and a growing confidence that the school is on the right course for their decision to contribute.

Many were particularly motivated to give because business students had been willing to pay more for quality – in terms of supporting a differential tuition for business education and by recent student fundraising campaigns. “For students to vote to tax themselves $1,000 a year (via differential tuition) is a big statement,” said Ted Kellner. Similar sentiments were expressed by Ab Nicholas: “We were inspired by the commitment Wisconsin business students have for the school. They have shown that they are willing to pay for quality. And so are we. We hope this naming gift inspires an even broader group of alumni to give back to the university that helped shape who they are today.”

What impact will the $85 million gift have on the Wisconsin School of Business? The gift will help guarantee faculty excellence, keep the school’s nationally recognized undergraduate program strong, enhance the resources available to the school’s specialized Wisconsin MBA programs and bolster its executive education programs.

Investing in talented people will be the top priority—retaining top faculty and staff and recruiting more outstanding individuals. Often business schools need to use a major portion of their naming gift to build needed facilities. The Wisconsin School of Business is finishing up a $40.5 million addition to Grainger Hall, so it can focus on investing in people instead of bricks and mortar.

“Naming gifts are a transformational thing for a business school,” Knetter said. “Their extraordinary size allows you to educate more students, do a better job of educating students and just have a bigger impact on society This gift will enable the business school to build on its reputation of leadership and innovation.”

Another key aspect of the gift according to Knetter, is the ongoing role the Wisconsin Naming Partners will play in deciding how to leverage future naming opportunities and acting as champions of the Wisconsin School of Business. “One of our trademarks is that our students connect with and learn from real-world leaders,” Knetter said. “The commitment made by the partners is a reflection of their enduring engagement with the school. Having people of this caliber in our court is going to make a huge impact,” he predicted.

The morning the naming gift was announced, Laurie Schmidt Zickert, BBA ‘77, MBA ‘78, of Edina, Minn., was one of almost 1,000 alumni in the Grainger Hall atrium. She was enjoying the usual pre-game festivities with her husband and sons. “I had no idea of what was going to happen,” she recalled recently. “It was fantastic. It’s great to be part of a group where the total team concept wins out over ego. Not that I expected anything less. We are all Badgers and we all do what we can to make a difference.”

Lari Fanlund is editor of UPDATE.