Boston University has announced that the Boston University School of Management has been renamed the Questrom School of Business in honor of alumnus Allen Questrom and his wife Kelli. The couple recently donated a gift of $50 million to the School through their Allen and Kelli Questrom Foundation. The gift will go to the endowment of 10 faculty chairs and enable planning to establish a new graduate program facility. The gift is the largest gift in the University’s history.
The new graduate program facility will be an addition of new 60,000-square-foot classroom space that will connect to its existing building. James Post, emeritus professor of markets, public policy and law, calls the donation shows that the Questroms recognized that physical space shapes an organization’s culture. “We cannot be the kind of school we aspire to be without the necessary square footage,” said Post.
Allen Questrom graduated from the Boston University School of Management in 1964. He is also a member of BU’s Board of Trustees. He is best known for his turnaround leadership of several notable department stores and specialty retailers that include JCPenney Company, Neiman Marcus, Barneys New York and Federated Department Stores.
Susan Fournier, Questrom Professor in Management and faculty director of the MBA program stated that the school has plans for new curricular strategies and programs that will further distinguish the BU MBA program. “I cannot stress strongly enough how important a new building will be for graduate programs,” Fournier said.
The Questrom’s gift comes two and a half years after the University announced its comprehensive fundraising campaign, with a target of $1 billion. The $50 million pledge brings the campaign’s total to $823 million. The campaign is on track to meet its overall completion date of 2017.