Broad Donates $20 Million to His Alma Mater
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DETROIT — Citing the importance of education in helping rejuvenate American industry, Los Angeles businessman Eli Broad on Tuesday donated $20 million to Michigan State University’s business school.
Broad, a 1954 MSU business graduate, said he made the donation to his alma mater because of its location in the heart of industrial America and the Midwestern work ethic reflected in its heritage and philosophy. The donation is believed to be one of the largest gifts to a public university business school.
Faulting America’s elite business schools for producing financial wizards rather than graduates who can handle the nitty-gritty problems of management and production, Broad said MSU’s expanded business program will focus on the practical challenges facing American manufacturing.
“America already has plenty of investment bankers,” Broad said. “I want graduates of MSU’s MBA program to be able to run a business that’s competitive in world markets, not just be able to crunch numbers or recite hedging strategies against high-yield portfolios.”
Raised in Michigan, Broad, 58, is chairman and chief executive of Los Angeles-based Broad Inc., a financial services holding company, and chairman of Kaufman & Broad Home Corp., a housing and commercial real estate company.
