The candidate for the first endowed chair of the Madden School of Business will be announced at the annual Frank Fernandez Alumni Dinner, on May 2.

The $3 million endowment is for the first chair in the finance department.  The gift from Kathy and John Purcell was $1 million, and two other anonymous donors each gave $1 million to fund the chair, according to Jim Joseph, Dean of Madden School of Business.  The Purcells are alumni of Le Moyne and the chair was named after them since their name is the only one publicly on the chair, according to Joseph.

The Madden School of Business is $300,000 short of its second endowed chair of the accounting department, and are also currently fundraising for a chair of risk management and insurance department, according to Joseph.  These endowed chairs create permanent positions in a specific department that can be filled by top-rated professors, according to Joseph.

Le Moyne is able to receive such large endowment gifts as a result of inspired alumni and generous local foundations, according to Joseph.  “Mike Madden, seven years ago, gave Le Moyne a transformational gift of $7.5 million to create a new business school,” said Joseph.

As a result, donors may reach out to the school with the desire to give back, or a team from Le Moyne goes to meet alumni around the country, according to Sam McCrimmon, the Director of Annual Giving.

“The team initiates discussions with them and see where their interests lie and whether they are interested in making a gift to the college,” says McCrimmon. “And if they are interested in the right kind of endowment gift, they would have that discussion about an endowed chair.”

Students, like Lizzy Glynn, an accounting major at Le Moyne, can experience the effects of endowed chairs at the Madden School of Business.

“What I like about the Madden School of Business is all the opportunities that they have, the great professors that they have, and they have a lot of great connections for internships and jobs for after college,” says Glynn.

When Glynn becomes an alumnus of Le Moyne, she hopes that her donations fund scholarships.  “I enjoyed my time so much here, and I want to help the other people that want to go here,” said Glynn.

The gifts from donors are not all spent, it “goes into the college’s account, and there is a process by which it is transferred into the college’s endowed funds, which are then managed by the office of finance and also the board of trustees,” says McCrimmon.

It is then invested and the 4-5% interest earned off of that is what is used to fund the endowed faculty position, according to Joseph.

The endowment money helps to get quality professors so students can get a high level of education, and fund scholarships and help keep costs, like tuition, from increasing, according to McCrimmon.

“Endowment exists in perpetuity, it exists forever,” says McCrimmon.  “These gifts create a position that doesn’t go away, which creates financial stability.”

Photo Caption: (left to right) Amanda Miles, Associate Director Annual Giving, T.J. Davis, Associate Director Annual Giving & Leadership, Brooke Merrifield, Office Coordinator Alumni and Parent Engagement, and Amy McCoy, Director Annual Giving Programs, in the Alumni Engagement & Annual Giving office.

Editors Note:

An earlier version of this article had misnamed Brooke Merrifield and had the wrong title for Amanda Miles.