Alum Donates $5 Million to Lehigh Real Estate Program
Marc and Sheree Holliday have donated $5 million dollars to Lehigh University’s College of Business and Economics to help enhance the Integrated Real Estate at Lehigh (ire@l) program. Marc Holliday is one of the top commercial real estate leaders in New York City, and a 1988 graduate of Lehigh University. He and his wife provided the gift to the College of Business and Economics through the Holliday Foundation, an organization that Marc and Sheree created to support their charitable causes.
The $5 million dollar gift is earmarked for two different initiatives. The first, a gift of $3.5 million, will establish The Marc Holliday ’88 Professor of Practice and Director of the ire@l Program position. The Holliday Foundation has made another $1.5 million available as part of a matching gift challenge that will establish the Marc Holliday ire@l Operating Endowment Fund. The matching program will seek donations from alumni and friends of Lehigh on a “two dollars for one” basis. If alumni and friends donate $3 million, the foundation will donate $1.5 million. The Holliday Foundation’s $5 million gift could raise a total of $8 million to support the ire@l program.
Holiday said he wanted to give back to his alma mater with his gift. “I received an outstanding education at Lehigh, which is one of the nation’s great universities. It was the initial foundation for my professional success,” Holliday said. “The purpose of this gift is to recognize that and to enhance a program that will produce future business leaders. I hope alumni and others in the real estate industry will join me in this supportive endeavor.”
