Your Contributions Make a Lasting Impact

      As we enter the last phase of Michigan State University’s seven-year capital fundraising drive, The Campaign for MSU, I want to express my sincere thanks for the loyalty and generosity of the alumni and friends who support the Broad School. Thousands of donors had given more than $107 million by year end 2006 toward our goal of $125 million.

This is a remarkable outpouring of support from alumni and friends. Our alumni clearly value their education and understand the challenges we face. Not so many years ago, it wasn’t as crucial for public colleges to seek private giving when the state still provided the majority of funding for their universities — even 10 years ago, the state provided slightly more than half of our funding and now provides only a little over one-third. That support is likely to continue to drop even more over time.

When you know this, and if you have an appreciation for how much it costs to run a world quality business school, you can understand why the Broad School’s capital campaign is so vitally important.

Participation is key

We hope that all alumni will give consideration to giving back — if not in this campaign, perhaps at another time. Annual giving programs, endowed gifts and bequests are just the beginning of the ways you can show your support.

To those of you who have made donations over the years and continue to give, the news that our fundraising efforts will continue is very good news. You are the leaders of a strong community of Broad classmates that spans many decades and includes successful businesspeople all over the world. You can be proud of your investment, knowing that there are many more who will follow you in helping us build for the future. You will find many stories about giving in this issue of Broad Business. Some of the gifts were created to honor a family member, other gifts were designed to address a particular need that inspired the giver. In the five years I have been dean at the Broad School, I have had the honor of meeting many of our donors, and every one of you has a great story to tell about why the Broad School is so important to you. You can read about some of our most recent donors in this issue, starting on page 26.

Giving of yourself

In this issue of Broad Business, you can also read stories of alumni and friends who give in other ways, donating their time and using their influence to help Broad School students get a start on their careers (See page 14, “Financial markets programming expands educational portfolio for Broad Students.”) They speak to classes and student organizations, share their professional networks with students as Broad Coaches and serve on advisory boards that help us continuously improve. Your presence among us is part of the ongoing life of the school and contributes to our students’ success in meaningful ways.

These are the living commitments that bind the Broad School community together and make being a Broad School alumnus/a such a rewarding experience. If you haven’t had the opportunity to get involved personally with the school in a while, I urge you to contact us at alumni@bus.msu.edu and volunteer.

On behalf of our students, faculty and staff, thank you, for all the kinds of gifts you give and for your dedicated support of your alma mater. But please keep helping! There are plenty of opportunities to do so, some examples of which you can read about on these pages.





Robert B. Duncan
The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Dean