The University of Wisconsin’s School of Business announced an $85 million gift to the school Saturday, the largest single donation in the university’s history. The combination of donations comes from 13 alumni and will keep the School of Business unnamed for the next 20 years. According to School of Business Dean Michael Knetter, the gift is much larger than most universities in the United States currently charge to have a department named after an alumnus. "One of the problems with naming your school in perpetuity is that what the prices schools are being sold for is going up year after year," Knetter said. "Ten years ago, schools were being named for $20 million, now they’re being named for $50 million. Twenty years from now, they’ll probably go for $140 million." Knetter said the funding will be used to hire additional faculty and staff and support students through scholarships. The money will be overseen by an advisory board formed by donating alumni, who have been dubbed the "Wisconsin Naming Partnership." "We were inspired by the commitment Wisconsin business students have for the school," UW alumnus Ab Nicholas said in a statement. "They have shown that they are willing to pay for quality. And so are we. We hope this naming gift inspires an even broader group of alumni to give back to the university that helped shape who they are today." The announcement was made before a crowd of nearly 1,000 UW alumni and students during a Homecoming event at Grainger Hall Saturday. Speakers included Gov. Jim Doyle and Chancellor John Wiley. “Words really can’t express what the individuals here and their families and the other donors who are not here have done for the university,” Doyle said, according to an audio file released by UW Communications. “All over campus, these names are well-known, and they’ve done it over and over again. There’s a lot of success stories here.” Knetter said discussions about the possibility of not naming the School of Business began 22 months ago when the first group of alumni decided to participate. Since the formation of the partnership, Knetter said the group had raised nearly $40 million and more than doubled that amount in the past two months. A $5-million minimum donation was set for alumni interested in joining the group. "I really am so excited about the idea of maintaining the school’s name … and not putting an individual’s name there," said UW alumnus Wade Fetzer, one of the donors. "It’s the University of Wisconsin name, and to lessen the brand by putting an individual’s name on the school of business to me would be very sad. One of the great things we’ve got is the brand of the University of Wisconsin." Fetzer said the advisory board will most likely meet twice a year with the dean to discuss planning and programs for the use of these funds. "This will be a huge plus to recruit faculty and develop programs," Fetzer said.