Graaskamp Board Member Donates Millions to the Wisconsin School of Business

Taking part in the historic “Wisconsin Naming Partnership,” Graaskamp Board Member and alum (MS ’74) Jon Hammes teamed up with 12 other donors to secure the single largest gift in UW-Madison’s history –$85 million – to the Wisconsin School of Business.

This innovative partnership provides a naming gift that will preserve the Wisconsin name for at least 20 years. During that time, the school will not be named for a single donor or entity. This unprecedented naming partnership will uphold tradition and greatly enhance the value of the school to students, the campus and the state.

The Wisconsin naming gift is the first of its kind received by a U.S. business school. Conventional business school naming gifts adopt the name of a single donor in perpetuity. By preserving the Wisconsin name for 20 years, this gift leaves open the option of future naming gifts. 

UW-Madison Chancellor John D. Wiley calls the gift “a creative act of philanthropy and a major milestone for our university.”

As the chairman and chief executive officer of Hammes Company, Jon Hammes is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the nation's leading developer of healthcare facility solutions. Headquartered in Brookfield, WI, Hammes Company has served over 100 major hospitals and healthcare systems across the country within the past five years. 

Hammes earned his Master’s degree in real estate from UW-Madison in 1974. Before forming Hammes Company, he was a Midwest regional partner and management board member for Trammell Crow Company.

An active participant in the Milwaukee community, Hammes has served on numerous boards for organizations such as the Children’s Hospital Health System, United Way of Greater Milwaukee and the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Hammes has also been a member of the Wisconsin School of Business Dean’s Advisory Board and is a recipient of the Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.