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Simon School Announces Two Major International Gifts for Professorships

Author:Contact: Charla Stevens Kucko, (585) 273-4806

Release Date: Oct 29, 2009

Rochester, N.Y.―October 29, 2009―The Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester is starting a new trend among the nation’s top business schools with two major gifts from international donors to establish endowed professorships. 

The Wadhawan family, leaders of a multi-billion dollar conglomerate comprising housing finance, retail supermarkets, real estate development, and restaurant and hotels chains across India, has pledged $1.5 million to establish an endowed professorship fund at the Simon School. The gift is the first of its kind from an Indian family to a top-tier U.S. business school.

The Rajesh Wadhawan Professorship Fund will be used to support a full-time faculty member who plays a leading role in advancing the standing of the Simon School and management education through service and teaching contributions with a preference for a professor making an impact in India. The professorship will help attract/retain leading faculty to research and teach at the Simon School. The gift, in memory of the late patriarch of the Wadhawan family, Mr. Rajesh Kumar Wadhawan, is from his wife, Aruna R. K. Wadhawan, and his sons, Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan. 

            The fund is an effort to build upon the Simon School’s top-ranked business education by growing its world-class faculty.

             “Our late father laid the foundation of a business enterprise with a vision to empower ordinary people,” said the Wadhawans. “Today, the company he founded, Dewan Housing Finance Corporation, is one of India’s biggest housing finance institutions. Through this endowment, we are taking forward his vision of transforming society by imparting the gift of knowledge to a growing generation of business leaders. It is our earnest belief that knowledge not only leads to wealth creation but also to a more progressive society.”

            In addition, Simon School faculty will begin teaching non-degree executive education courses for firms in India beginning later this academic year.

           A native of China Hong Kong, Evans Y. Lam, B.A. ’83, M.B.A. ’84, and his wife, Susanna, are beginning a $1.5 million endowment to support a professorship at the Simon School. The Susanna and Evans Y. Lam Professorship will allow the School to attract global business scholars from around the world. Lam is senior vice president―investments, at UBS Financial Services. Prior to joining UBS in 2008, Lam was senior vice president of wealth management and senior portfolio manager at Citigroup Smith Barney, where he advised affluent clients since 1991. Lam gained experience in mergers and acquisitions as director of corporate finance at Toronto Dominion Bank and vice president at Deutsche Bank. In 2002, he advised the State Council of China on monetary reform.  An actively involved alumnus, he currently serves on the Simon School Executive Advisory Committee and National Council, where he provides leadership and counsel to Dean Mark Zupan on the advancement of the School around the world. He is also a member of the University of Rochester’s Regional Cabinet in Los Angeles, Calif.

           “I am forever grateful to the University of Rochester and the Simon School for providing me with the foundation for my career in corporate finance and investment management. I came to the United States with $180 and a four-year scholarship from the University.  The School enabled me to fulfill the American dream. Giving back is part of this dream, and what makes America great. I am inspired by Dean Zupan’s vision for the institution, and honored to contribute to the fulfillment of ‘Meliora’―‘Ever Better.’ ”

            “We are most grateful to the Wadhawan and Lam families for their investment in the future of the Simon School,” says Zupan. “Their gifts will enable us to bring premier scholars to Simon to train the world’s future business leaders. We are also immensely grateful for their willingness to set a new example of philanthropy from international donors to top-tier schools of business in the United States.”

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The Simon School prides itself as the place Where Thinkers Become Leaders™ and is currently ranked among the leading graduate business schools in the world in rankings published by the popular press, including BusinessWeek, U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Forbes. For example, the Financial Times recently rated the School 2nd in the world for finance and 5th in the world for managerial economics. More information about the Simon School is available on the World Wide Web at www.simon.rochester.edu.