The UCLA Anderson School of Management announced on Wednesday that Marion Anderson, wife of the late John Edward Anderson, after whom the school is named, has donated $100M to the MBA program. The contribution—the most sizeable in the school’s history—comes almost three decades after an earlier donation from John Edward and Marion Anderson led to the renaming of the school in 1987.
Marion Anderson has remained supportive of the business school since her husband passed away in 2011. “Like my late husband, I take enormous pleasure in furthering the school’s impact on the lives of future global leaders, in advancing the practice of management through faculty research and in facilitating access to a world-class learning opportunity for students from all walks of life,” she said. The donation will be divided into two portions—$60M will devoted to creating an endowment for such expenses as research funding and financial aid, while $40M will lay the foundation for the construction of new campus facilities.
UCLA initiated a fundraising campaign in early 2014 with a $4.2B goal in preparation for the university’s 100th anniversary in 2019. UCLA Anderson has raised $183M to date toward its program-specific $300M goal, and administrators seem understandably pleased with the latest contribution. “I am humbled by this transformative gift,” Anderson Dean Judy Olian commented. Remarked UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, “Marion’s most recent gift will enhance learning opportunities for generations of students and support scholarship by faculty who are leaders in their fields. As UCLA Anderson expands its reach and distinctions, Marion’s gift provides the resources—both financial and physical—to realize an ambitious vision.”