Alumni

McIntire Community of Students, Staff, and Faculty Benefit from $46.1 Million in New Commitments, a Record Year!

Significant gifts bring McIntire nearer to its Inspire the Next Century campaign goals.

Rendering of the Crescent Courtyard, which, when complete, will serve as an outdoor gathering space set between Shumway and Cobb Halls in the new Commerce Complex.

Rendering of the Crescent Courtyard, which, when complete, will serve as an outdoor gathering space set between Shumway and Cobb Halls in the new Commerce Complex.

The McIntire School of Commerce began its second century remarkably, raising more than $46 million in total commitments for fiscal year 2022, a monumental number representing the highest one-year amount in the School’s history. The landmark sum accounts for another one-year record of total cash gifts to the School equaling upwards of $29.8 million, which includes $4.3 million given to the School’s vitally important Annual Fund.

A total of 3,644 individual donors includes 529 members of the McIntire Dean’s Society, who provided leadership gifts of $2,500 or more ($1,000 for recent alumni), in order to help the School meet its critical priorities to fortify its future.

“We are incredibly grateful for the dedication of our Commerce community and their generous support that ensures McIntire maintains its leadership position in global business education,” says John A. Griffin Dean Nicole Thorne Jenkins. “These individual investments in the School add up to provide the unmatched student services and programmatic innovation that prepare our graduates to become responsible and visionary business leaders. Through unrestricted gifts to the Annual Fund, we are able to support student services, facilitate timely course enhancements, and leverage critical faculty research that expands McIntire’s footprint on Grounds and around the world.”

“We are incredibly grateful for the dedication of our Commerce community and their generous support that ensures McIntire maintains its leadership position in global business education.” —John A. Griffin Dean Nicole Thorne Jenkins

With the unwavering support of the devoted McIntire community, fundraising efforts have brought the Commerce School nearer to its $250 million Inspire the Next Century goal; the transformative campaign recently bypassed the $200 million mark on the strength of 6,661 alumni donors—nearly one-third of all McIntire alumni—actively involved in advancing the campaign since its inception.

A key component of the campaign, the Next Century Building Fund, centers on the new Commerce Complex, an expansion project for the School composed of Shumway Hall, a renovated Cobb Hall, and numerous outdoor meeting areas and greenspaces. Support for Shumway Hall, initially funded with a $25 million gift from The Chris & Carrie Shumway Foundation, increased by more than $13.4 million in FY22, bringing the current total for the for the high-tech, collaborative hub to $57.9 million of its $101 million goal. The building is set to break ground in September of 2022.

Securing Scholarships, Protecting Professorships

Other highlights of this year’s fundraising initiatives include seven commitments of $1 million or more and an additional five commitments of $500,000+ that endow new scholarships or bicentennial professorships.

Safeguarding access to the Commerce School for every admitted student, these new scholarships qualify for the University’s Bicentennial Scholars Fund Matching Program, an initiative designed to grow the overall UVA scholarship endowment. Five need-based scholarships for undergraduate students were funded by alumni partners who have expressly stated a preference for awarding them to McIntire students.

As indispensable to McIntire’s mission is its aim of attracting and retaining talented faculty. To that end, the James W. Todd Bicentennial Professorship in Real Estate Fund was established by TFP Investments LP, in honor and memory of real estate developer and McIntire Foundation Board Trustee Jim Todd (McIntire ’60, Darden ’64), and the Donna and Richard Tadler University Professorship of Entrepreneurship Fund establishes a UVA professorship for an exceptionally distinguished scholar in entrepreneurship.

Educators Honored

This past April, the 100 Hours of Giving campaign returned for its second installment, focusing on “Honoring Our Educators.” The celebration of the School’s history and completing its Centennial milestone accentuated professors past and present who have contributed to making McIntire the respected academic institution it is today.

While short on time, the mini-campaign was long on impact: 250 donors raised $144,486 in honor of 94 current and former faculty members who have been inspirational in their experience as students and instrumental in preparing them for professional success. Of the funds raised, $50,000 came from alumni matching gifts, and $15,000 was raised directly through outreach conducted by 24 alumni volunteers. The 100 Hours of Giving campaign underscores the vital role of the Annual Fund in hiring and retaining world-class professors who are both leaders in their area of scholarship and in the classroom.

Another campaign reflective of the impact that McIntire faculty make in students’ lives took place last fall, with M.S. in the Management of IT alumni and industry donors providing a heartfelt surprise gift to acknowledge Professor Ryan Nelson for his work with the Center for the Management of IT (CMIT). Having served as Director since founding the Center in 1991, Nelson, as well as CMIT’s 30-year anniversary, were honored with generosity that surpassed the original $30,000 goal, climbing to almost $45,000 in contributions to inaugurate the CMIT endowment with a total exceeding $1 million.

The newest McIntire Center of Excellence, the UVA Center for Real Estate and the Built Environment, was launched in November 2021 with a generous $10 million gift by Robert M. White Jr. (McIntire ’87), Founder and former CEO of Real Capital Analytics Inc. In a few short months, the pan-UVA nexus is already connecting faculty, students, alumni, and industry partners to share knowledge and elevate the real estate experience at UVA through academic program support, research, and outreach.

All of the aforementioned commitments forecast a future that’s already off to a strong start because of the efforts of the Commerce community, says Dean Jenkins: “As we take the first steps into our second century, we are extremely thankful to our dedicated alumni, parents, corporate partners, faculty, staff, and friends who are responsible for our continued success.”

Find out about all the exciting things happening in the McIntire community. Visit our news page for the latest updates.

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