A Newsletter for Friends and Alumni of the University of Washington
Feature: Getting down to Business

With a new world-class facility for the Business School in the design phase, members of the School’s advisory board are making bold moves to secure the UW’s role in the economic future of the region. Meanwhile, alumni and friends continue to step forward to lend momentum to a campaign with the capacity to transform the School and its programs.

Private giving at the School took a dramatic upturn in the past several quarters, according to Dean Jim Jiambalvo, who says recent contributions have helped push the School’s campaign past the $100 million mark toward its final goal of $125 million for new buildings, faculty support and student scholarship endowments.

Dean Jim Jiambalvo

Prominent among recent gifts was one from advisory board co-chair Arthur Buerk (’58) and his wife, Sue (’74), who gave substantial support for an endowment to advance the study and development of leaders. Advisory board member and UW Foundation Board chair Orin Smith (‘65), meanwhile, made a lead gift to the School’s building campaign through the Orin Smith Family Foundation.

Some contributions served a dual purpose, supporting the building campaign while also providing for students, faculty and program enhancements. San Francisco-based businessman and UW Foundation Board member Gary Shansby (‘59), who also serves on the School’s advisory board, gave generously to the building campaign; he also established an endowed chair in marketing strategy. Agnes Griffin, who along with her late husband, Walter, wanted to provide educational resources for promising business students, included provisions for endowed scholarships in her planned gift, which also supports the new building.

Robert Herbold, retired chief operating officer of Microsoft and a Business School advisory board member, made an investment in the School’s faculty and programs with leadership commitments to establish a professorship in entrepreneurship and the Robert J. Herbold Venture Creation Lab.

According to Jiambalvo, these friends and others are helping the School secure its stature among the nation’s leading business schools. “As the Business School moves closer to its goal of becoming America’s top public business school,” he says, “we are grateful for the private support that is turning vision into reality here.”

For more on the Business School, visit www.washington.edu/business.

Top Image (from left to right): UW business school students in class; Local business leader Fred Anderson of Leajak Construction meets with Business School students and faculty in a round table discussion; Marketing Professor Emeritus Thad Spratlen in lecture hall. Right: Dean Jim Jiambalvo.

Building for the Future of Business

Construction of the first two new buildings for the Business School begins in 2008, with occupancy slated for 2010. Phase two calls for Balmer Hall to be demolished in 2010 and replaced by another all-new building in 2012. When both phases are complete, classroom seats will expand by more than 35 percent.

“Building a first-rate facility is a must if we expect to compete with peer schools and deliver the kind of transformational learning experience that will prepare our students for business leadership in the 21st century,” says Mike Garvey (’61, ’64), co-chair of the Business School campaign. The new facilities will foster closer ties between the School and local business leaders like Garvey and others, who have long contributed their time and expertise with classroom visits and service on the School’s advisory board.

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs Pete Dukes, who chairs the School’s building committee, has visited many of the country’s top facilities. “There’s a real sense of community that can be fostered in a well designed space, and we’re going to see that like never before in our new complex,” he says. “As a faculty member, I’m excited about teaching in classrooms where you can not only see students’ faces, but also their dimples when they smile.

Return to Winter 2007 Campaign Newsletter