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Isenberg School of Management Alumni & Friends

Annual Report 2003

Foundation for the Future

Gifts in Kind, Endowed Support Highlight Fund Raising Year

“Our fund-raising performance this year reflects an important fact of life in the Isenberg School’s evolution,” observes Dean O’Brien. “We’ve reached a plateau where donors and potential donors view us as a strong bet to marshal their support wisely. Our recent record speaks for itself: Our new building is as good as educational facilities get; we’ve added five endowed positions to our faculty; and our Annual Fund consistently does $1 million plus each year. We’ve also received the largest personal gift ($6 million) in the history of this university and its first Kresge Challenge grant. If those accomplishments aren’t positive evidence for future donors, what are?”

Fund Raising at the Isenberg School

The jury is in for Fiscal Year 2003, and it has ruled in favor of the Isenberg School to the unprecedented tune of $13.5 million. The year’s largest gift was an $8.8 million gift-in-kind to the School’s Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets from the investments services firm, Zurich Capital Markets. The gift includes a highly regarded hedge-fund database and a pledge from ZCM to provide accompanying consulting services. No less eventful for the Isenberg School last year was its attraction of $3.47 million in endowed support. A $957,000 gift from the estate of the late Arthur H. Carter, a former partner at Haskins and Sells (a forerunner of Deloitte and Touche), will ultimately generate $40,000 in annual scholarships for students in the School’s accounting program.

In addition to its customary million-dollar Annual Fund performance, the School garnered $230,000 in capital support, including $130,000 for its building fund and another $100,000 for to its Hospitality and Tourism Management’s $2.4 million campaign to create its own teaching restaurant and food service labs at the Top of the Campus in the University’s Campus Center. That campaign and a second initiative to attract endowed professorships and scholarships to the School’s Sport Management program should gain considerable steam during the current fiscal year.

“The Isenberg School and the entire Amherst campus will be moving into the silent phase of a second comprehensive campaign by the fiscal year’s end,” notes Dean O’Brien. “The economic reality of public higher education demands relentless fund raising and continuous improvement. Anyone who wants to see what support from alumni and friends can mean to our students should visit our new Alfond Management Center when classes are in session. You have my standing invitation.”