Sheldon B. Lubar, Milwaukee business leader and philanthropist, recently gave the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee $10 million, the largest donation in the school's history.
Lubar's gift to the UWM School of Business Administration is slated for use in areas including new business professorships and scholarships for students in the program.
"I think we can't say enough good things about [Lubar's] generosity and his commitment," Doug Bradley, UW System spokesperson, said of the gift. "The fact that he's stepping up with his own resources is extraordinary."
Lubar, founder and chairman of Milwaukee-based investment company Lubar & Co., has a deep commitment to UWM, according to a university release. He has been an active member of the School of Business Advisory Council for more than 30 years and is a UWM Foundation Distinguished Director.
Lubar is also a former president of the UW Board of Regents, the policy-setting board for the System.
Lubar, who recently took the position to co-chair the new UWM comprehensive campaign, hopes to fundraise some $100 million for the university. His donation puts UWM past the halfway point of this goal, but he is not stopping there.
Beyond his personal donation, Lubar agreed to help the business school raise an additional $20 million. He will seek half of this funding from the local business community and the other half from the UW System.
"This is something that we have to talk about," Bradley said of the UW System allocating funds. "There's a constant tension inside the system for resources."
Bradley emphasized that each campus deserves appropriate funding, and that even though Lubar's gift is much appreciated, there is no guarantee that additional funding will be assigned to UWM.
Since then, Lubar's business interests in Milwaukee have focused his attention on what the UWM business school can do to "prepare tomorrow's leaders for all the challenges that the new global economy presents," according to the release.
Bradley called Milwaukee an "urban anchor," saying a thriving business school there is pivotal in the success of the business community and its future.
The UWM business school — 4,400 students strong — boasts its prime urban location as a unique point of access for its students to the industrial, technological and commercial energy of Southeast Wisconsin, according to the release.
Dennis Glass, alumnus of the UWM undergraduate and master's business programs, acknowledges the magnitude of the gift, saying that it will "definitely be helpful in attracting professors to the university."
Glass began his business career in Milwaukee after receiving his degree from UWM, and is now the president and CEO of the Jefferson-Pilot Corporation, headquartered in North Carolina.
The opportunities afforded to him by the business community in Milwaukee and UWM have been pivotal to his success, Glass said.
Glass called the donation "huge," and, according to Bradley, it is a stepping-stone not only for UWM as it reaches its 50th anniversary, but the entire state as well.
Lubar's donation is one of many to Wisconsin universities in recent years, and UW-Madison is no stranger to large financial gifts.
The largest of these came in 2004 from Cisco Systems chairman John Morgridge, amounting to $31 million. Other significant donations in UW-Madison's history include $25 million from Sen. Herb Kohl for the Kohl Center and $20 million from Simona and Jerome Chazen for the university's art museum.
Calls for comment from spokespeople for UWM and the business school were not returned as of press time.
