In Review
BUSINESS LEADER: Mark Zupan, dean of the Simon School, announced this spring that he has committed $1 million to the Simon School, believed to be the largest personal commitment by a sitting dean of a U.S. business school (Photo: Simon Graduate School of Business Administration).When Mark Zupan, dean of the Simon School, considers where he is today, he gives a good part of the credit to his mother, Maria. She was one of the first women to earn a doctorate in chemistry from the University.
“My mother was an international scholarship student,” Zupan says, “and the scholarship support made it possible for her to come here, earn her degree and provide a career for herself and a livelihood to support her family. That ultimately added to my own opportunities as a professor and administrator and eventually provided the means to be able to make a commitment back to Rochester.”
That dedication is reflected in his announcement this spring that he has committed $1 million to the school, believed to be the largest personal gift for business education ever made by a sitting dean of a U.S. business school.
Zupan—who was reappointed to a second, five-year term in late 2008—has directed his gift to provide scholarship support to international and domestic Simon students and to establish an endowed fund for his successors to support innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit at Simon. Zupan also cites Ed Hajim ’58, the chair of the Board of Trustees who last fall announced a $30 million commitment to the University, as an inspiration for his gift.
“As Ed said, paraphrasing George Eastman, ‘Education is the solution to everything.’ I believe that, too,” says Zupan, “and I want to do what I can to make a difference to being part of that solution through the Simon School.”
–Kathleen McGarvey
