University of Chicago Business School Gets $75 Million Gift

(Bloomberg) -- A couple who met at the University of Chicago's business school four decades ago is donating $75 million to their alma mater, the second-biggest gift ever for the graduate program.

Students of the Booth School of Business who earn the highest honors will become Amy and Richard Wallman scholars in recognition of the couple's donation, the University of Chicago said Wednesday in a statement. Alumnus David Booth gave a record $300 million in 2008, and the school was named in his honor.

Large gifts to higher education have been announced in recent weeks, following strong stock market returns. The University of Michigan is receiving an additional $50 million from its largest benefactor, Related Cos. Chairman Stephen Ross, while Kenyon College in Ohio and Atlanta's Oglethorpe University got record donations.

The University of Hawaii at Manoa's Shidler College of Business said Wednesday in a statement that real estate investor and alumnus Jay H. Shidler donated $117 million, bringing his total gift to $228 million, the most in the school's history.

Read more: Small schools give Ivy League run for the money in donation race

Booth plans to use the money for initiatives including scholarships for students pursuing business degrees on different timetables, such as those attending full-time, weekend and executive MBA programs.

“Maintaining and extending Booth's prominence in research and enhancing the impact of ideas on the world by training tomorrow's leaders is essential for our continued success,” Booth's dean, Madhav Rajan, said in the statement. “The Wallman Scholars will be recognized as preeminent in this cadre of future leaders, modeling the potential and the spirit of their benefactors.”
 
Richard Wallman, 66, graduated in 1974 and is a former chief financial officer of Honeywell International Inc. and Allied Signal Inc. He also held posts at International Business Machines Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp., and currently serves on several corporate boards, including Roper Technologies Inc., Bausch & Lomb Holdings Inc. and Convergys Corp. Amy Wallman, who completed her degree in 1975, was an audit partner at Ernst & Young and a board member at Omnicare Inc.

“We have great affection for the University of Chicago,” Amy Wallman, 68, said in the statement. “The Booth School of Business is world class, and we hope our gift makes it even better.”

The Wallmans are retired and live in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

To contact the reporter on this story: Janet Lorin in New York at jlorin@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Mary Romano at mromano6@bloomberg.net, Peter Eichenbaum