ANN ARBOR – The University of Michigan’s
Zell-Lurie Institute has received a pledge of $60 million from the Zell Family
Foundation, some of which will be used to create a fund to invest in new
student ventures.
The
Institute, at the U-M’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business, was originally
established with a $10 million gift from the Zell Family Foundation and The Ann
and Robert H. Lurie Family Foundation. The remainder of the funds will be used to
support the institute for continued delivery and development of
entrepreneurship programs for students and alumni.
The Zell
Lurie Institute is consistently ranked among the top graduate programs in
entrepreneurship education by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine,
and has remained in the top three national programs for three consecutive years.
Our goal is to accelerate the learning curve and
the opportunities for budding entrepreneurs, as well as to build a powerful
alumni network,” said Sam Zell, a University of Michigan alumnus (AB ’63, JD ’66, HLLD ’05) and chairman of Equity Group Investments. “Entrepreneurs have
always been a primary driver of growth for this country. I believe that
fostering entrepreneurial education is an investment in the future.”
The gift
comes at a time when interest in entrepreneurship is booming, driven by a
number of factors from the expansion of the U.S. tech boom and the lower cost
of starting a business, to the versatile benefits of an entrepreneurial
background in nearly any career path. With that growing interest, the number of
entrepreneurship programs offered by colleges and universities has continued to
grow, quadrupling in the U.S. since 1999, and they have become an integral part
of the startup landscape. In fact, The Graduate Management Admission Council’s
2015 Alumni Perspectives Report found that one in eight alumni are
self-employed today, and entrepreneurs view business school as more influential
to their career success than other alumni.
“This
gift generates tremendous opportunities for our students and is significant
news in the world of entrepreneurial studies,” said Alison Davis-Blake, the
Edward J. Frey Dean of the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.
“The generosity of the Zell Family Foundation and its commitment to support
hands-on learning opportunities will help create an exciting new fund for
student business ventures and provide ongoing support for the impressive
programs of the Zell Lurie Institute.”
To further stimulate the entrepreneurial education
and network at U-M, the Zell Family Foundation also created ZEAL (the Zell
Entrepreneurship and Law Program) at the Law School in 2011. The program
includes a clinic to offer free legal advice to Michigan’s burgeoning community
of student entrepreneurs, and to train law students to serve entrepreneurial
ventures.
“The Zell Lurie Institute is the fuel in the
university’s growing entrepreneurial engine,” said Stewart Thornhill, executive
director of the Zell Lurie Institute. “Sam and his family foundation’s generous
support will ensure that we will not slow down any time soon, and that we will
continue to push the boundaries of entrepreneurial education. Sam invests a
significant amount of time in providing vision and direction for the institute,
and we benefit tremendously from his practical experience and macro
perspective.”
Sam and Helen Zell both have been strong
supporters of their alma mater. Under their leadership, the Zell Family
Foundation has provided financial support to U-M of more than $150 million.
Helen Zell, executive director of the Zell Family
Foundation, is a 1964 graduate of U-M’s Department of English Language and
Literature and is a 2013 recipient of an honorary Doctor of Humane
Letters degree from the university. The foundation provides significant ongoing support for
the university’s Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing Program, now
known as the Helen Zell Writers’ Program. It is a two-year graduate program in
creative writing with a concentration in either fiction or poetry that leads to
a Master of Fine Arts degree.
The
program also provides each student with the opportunity for a “Zellowship,” a
post-graduate year of financial support that enables writers to dedicate their
time solely to writing. In addition, the MFA program sponsors the Zell Visiting
Writers Series. Among its earlier activities, the Zell Family Foundation
endowed the department’s first visiting professorship in fiction, later named
the Nicholas Delbanco Visiting Professorship; endowed the Helen Zell Director’s
Fund for the MFA program in Creative Writing; and endowed the Visiting Writers
Series.
To date,
Helen Zell has spearheaded more than $69 million of support from the Zell
Family Foundation to the College. She also regularly donates her time to engage
with the students and to help them gain access to world-class writers through
her network. The result is an ongoing, highly competitive, nationally
recognized program that regularly produces award-winning authors.
U-M’s Ross School of Business is a pioneer in
entrepreneurial education, introducing the nation’s first course on
entrepreneurship in 1927, and the first student-led venture fund, The Wolverine
Venture Fund, in 1997. Two years later, the Zell Lurie Institute was
established as one of the country’s first full programs dedicated to
entrepreneurial education. Since then, the Zell Lurie Institute has:
Awarded nearly $4.4 million in funding and engaged
more than 5,500 students through its robust portfolio of programs including:
Dare to Dream Grants; the Michigan Business Challenge business plan
competition; Marcel Gani Internships; scholarship awards; and three student-led
venture funds, including funds focused on early stage businesses and ventures
with a social-impact mission.
Supported the creation and growth of hundreds of
start-up businesses; including more than 100 companies in the 2014-2015
academic year alone.
