<p>The University of Chicago Business school, already considered one of the top 7 or 8 MBA programs in the nation, just received a $300,000,000 gift from Mr. David Booth. That is the largest gift to an academic institution ever by one individual. The B school, previously known as the Chicago Business School will now be called Chicago Booth. This should seriouslyt solidify the school's standing as one of the top MBA programs.</p>
<p>We done Chicago!</p>
<p>I saw that too. It made me think of two things immediately:</p>
<p>1) Massive gifts / donations to the likes of Wharton (who founded the b-school), Harvard and Stanford would never get them to change their names. I remember reading about Phil Knight's $100m donation to Stanford GSB (then the highest donation ever to a b-school) which managed to get his name on the Knight Management Center -- but that's it -- i.e. the name brand values of Harvard and Stanford and Wharton are way more valuable than any single donation could ever overtake (in fact IIRC at the time of the Knight donation, a senior Stanford administrator said as much).</p>
<p>here is an excerpt from BusinessWeek on its story:</p>
<p>
[quote]
The renaming of Chicago’s business school leaves only four of the top 30 U.S. business schools unnamed for a donor: Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, and Yale.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>But as I mentioned earlier, Wharton doesn't count since Joseph Wharton actually founded the school.</p>
<p>2) This guy Booth, although undoubtedly very wealthy and very generous, is frankly totally full of himself to agree (or more likely demand) that the whole business school be renamed to his namesake -- I mean come on, people will try and say "oh he probably didn't demand it, they are just honoring him" but let's face it when you give a school $300 million bucks, your name is going to be talked about and you have plenty of leverage to say "yes" or "no" about how you are to be honored (in every imaginable way possible, to what degree, to what extent, etc., etc.. i.e. the school, trustees, etc. are going to be falling all over themselves to make the guy happy). A truly humble dude would say, "yeah, a building or something would be nice" but to agree (or more likely demand -- though the UofC would never, ever admit it) to have the entire school be renamed Chicago Booth... I don't know man, the guy is a total egomaniac IMO.</p>
<p>I am not sure if he is that much of an egomaniac. Michigan named its business school after Stephen Ross when he donated $100 million 5 years ago. The point was to build a new building and he funded 50% of the cost of that building. Northwestern renamed its business school after John Kellogg donated $10 million back in the 1970s. If Chicago Business school already had a name, I agree that changing it to his name would be questionable, but I am not so sure that there is anything wrong in this case.</p>
<p>And I am not so sure that Stanford or Harvard are beneath naming their Business programs after a wealthy benefactor. If Bill Gates donated $2 billion to HBS, I am sure they would seriously think of renaming it Harvard Gates! hehe! Or if Mukesh Ambani were to donate $1 billion to Stanford Business School, they would most likely renamed the school Stanford Ambani. Or if Warren Buffet were to donate $500 million to Columbia Business School, you can be pretty sure they would rename the school Columbia Buffet!</p>
<p>I agree that Wharton would never change its name, but that's because its name is a vital part of its identity and a very power brand name in its own right. Besides, it is already named after its priciple benefactor.</p>
<p>I don't know Alex. I'm willing to bet that Wharton, Stanford and Harvard would never change the name of their respective b-schools to accommodate a single large donation.</p>
<p>Again, I wish I could track down that article where the senior Stanford administrator basically said that no amount of money would ever trump the invaluable name brand value that IS "Stanford" -- and this was at the time of Knight's record breaking 100 million dollar donation.</p>
<p>LMAO @ finding fault in someone donating $300 million.</p>
<p>This is a gigantic donation and will certainly help Chicago achieve great things. Anyways, what is the big problem with changing the name of the school? It's just a name. IMO, Chicago doesn't have that strong of a business school brand name (relative to the quality of the education).</p>
<p>
[quote]
I wish I could track down that article where the senior Stanford administrator basically said that no amount of money would ever trump the invaluable name brand value that IS "Stanford
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That is probably why he is a school administrator and not a businessman. Clearly, the Stanford brand name does have a value, and changing it would cost some amount of money. However, he simply doesn't know what that value is and is too emotionally attached to "Stanford Graduate School of Business" to make a rational decision here.</p>
<p>Harvard Business School and Stanford GSB will never "sell out" their business school's name to accommodate a single donor (i.e. Chicago Booth School of Business).</p>
<p>It's as simple as that.</p>
<p>Lol...wow...I thought this was fake until I actually went to the web site. I have nothing to say...</p>
<p>Oh please prestige, you clearly don't understand what major gifts mean to a school, I fully expect HBS and GSB to sport new names when the right size gift comes along. It may be a while now though.....Anyone have a spare $300MM left?</p>
<p>i read its 300m in DFA stock</p>
<p>
[quote]
Oh please prestige, you clearly don't understand what major gifts mean to a school, I fully expect HBS and GSB to sport new names when the right size gift comes along. It may be a while now though.....Anyone have a spare $300MM left?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Wanna bet?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Wanna bet?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I believe it is a bit past your bedtime.</p>
<p>
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I believe it is a bit past your bedtime.
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</p>
<p>Wanna bet?</p>
<p>the_prestige, I am willing to bet HBS, SBS and Columbia have a price. In the case of HBS and SBS, the price would be considerably higher than $300 million, but they have a price.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't know Alex. I'm willing to bet that Wharton, Stanford and Harvard would never change the name of their respective b-schools to accommodate a single large donation.
[/quote]
That is wrong. You don't think Harvard would consider renaming their business school for 30 billion? The only question is price, not if they would do it.</p>
<p>Actually, I have to agree with Payne and Alexandre on this one: those schools would indeed probably change their name for the right price. </p>
<p>Heck, HBS already has done so. The full and complete name of HBS is actually the "Harvard Graduate School of Business: George F. Baker Foundation". Who the heck is George F. Baker? The guy who donated $5 million in 1924. The moniker "HBS" is really just a nickname. Note, Baker, unlike Joseph Wharton, did not actually found the school (which was founded in 1908). What Baker did was pay to build much of the Allston campus that still exists today. </p>
<p>The eighty-seven-year-old George F. Baker presented Harvard President A. Lawrence Lowell with the keys to the School—officially named the “Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, George F. Baker Foundation”</p>
<p>The Baker story is an interesting historical footnote (and I would agree that his legacy still bears an important mark on the current school -- e.g. Baker Scholar) however, the school is known both formally and otherwise as Harvard Business School.</p>
<p>In fact, I can't find a single other place on HBS's own site where it is referred to as The Harvard Business School of Business Administration, George F. Baker Foundation. Take a look at HBS's own historical page:</p>
<p>HBS</a> History - Harvard Business School</p>
<p>There is absolutely no mention of the name "George F. Baker Foundation" -- and the real litmus test is the HBS Diploma where the George F. Baker name is nowhere to be seen.</p>
<p>Finally, the difference between that and Chicago Booth is take a look at the current website, The</a> University of Chicago Booth School of Business (formerly Chicago GSB) - Business School, Full-time, Part-time, Executive MBA Programs future marketing materials, etc. where the Booth name is and will be front and center -- anyone catch the full page ads taken out in major financial publications splashing the Booth name? -- there is absolutely no avoiding it. Now compare that to HBS and the Baker name, you had to literally dig that footnote out of the archives -- nowhere else is the Baker name prominent -- and certainly doesn't have equal billing to the Harvard name in any way, shape or form.</p>
<p>Yeah, but all of that is neither here nor there. The real question on the table is whether HBS would sell naming rights to the school, and they almost certainly would for the right price. In fact, they effectively already had to Baker. Granted, it was obviously not very prominent naming rights, but they were still naming rights. </p>
<p>Besides, I don't see what exactly the problem would be anyway. Lots of B-schools have sold naming rights, and nobody seems to have a problem with it. Kellogg, Sloan, Haas, and now Chicago Booth. It would actually be rather silly if HBS never would.</p>
<p>If Chicago sells their's for $300MM, I wouldn't be surprised if GSB could be sold in the 500-1000MM range.</p>
<p>sakky, my point is simply that Harvard and Stanford wouldn't (IMO) "sell" their name to have equal footing to any single donor.</p>
<p>maybe if it was $1 billion or some ridiculous amount they'd think about incorporating the name throughout the school -- but it's highly unlikely.</p>
<p>Yes, I know what your point is, I just disagree. In fact, I think you conceded that if the price was ridiculous, they might do just that. I am simply pointing out that HBS already had effectively done so via Mr. Baker.</p>