Whoa: Chicago Booth Gets Second-Largest Gift Ever: $100M

Chicago Booth School’s EMBA program was ranked No. 3 this year by U.S. News

It’s one of the biggest gifts a business school has ever received, and the second-largest ever at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. The B-school announced Monday (May 1) that entrepreneur and philanthropist Ross Stevens, Ph.D. ’96, has made a gift of $100 million to the school’s Ph.D. program to advance the frontiers of academic business research. In recognition, the program will be renamed the Stevens Doctoral Program.

“Thanks to Ross’ extraordinary generosity and bold vision, the Stevens Doctoral Program is poised to accelerate and broaden the impact of its scholars now and long into the future,” says Booth Dean Madhav Rajan.

Stevens is the founder and CEO of New York-based Stone Ridge Holdings Group, which focuses on alternative asset management, reinsurance and bitcoin. The $100 million gift, the largest ever to a Ph.D. program at any business school, will ensure competitive stipends for matriculates, more than double research support, and additional financial support via Stevens Fellowships for the top incoming students. Chicago Booth can also claim the largest overall gift to any business school in the world, the original $300 million naming gift from alumnus David Booth in 2008, though that gift has been worth well over $500 million due to the income stream and equity interest of the pledge in addition to an undisclosed up-front payment.

CELEBRATION OF STEVENS’ GIFT ON MAY 12

Ross Stevens: “The quality of a business school’s PhDs determines the quality of its faculty, which, in turn, determines the quality of the school itself”

Additionally, the gift will go beyond academics to support the “full person.” Stevens Program students will benefit from personalized coaching programs in wellness, public speaking, and professional development, as well as full-time mental health support.

Stevens’ gift will also establish a new alumni mentoring initiative, formally connecting current Ph.D. students with Ph.D. alumni across academia, government and industry. Stevens will co-chair the initiative with Cliff Asness, MBA ’91, Ph.D. ’94, his Booth classmate, mentor, co-author, and first boss.

“I believe that, over time, the quality of a business school’s PhDs determines the quality of its faculty, which, in turn, determines the quality of the school itself,” Stevens says.

“Booth is already in an exceptionally strong position, but the students of tomorrow demand we don’t rest on our laurels today. By making Booth the unquestionable destination of choice for the very best Ph.D. applicants, this gift adds rocket fuel to Booth’s long-term mission.”

The gift from Ross Stevens and the naming of the Stevens Doctoral Program will be celebrated at Chicago Booth’s Ph.D. Centennial celebration on May 12.

DON’T MISS THE $150 MILLION B-SCHOOL DONOR WHO IS ALSO A SUPERSTAR IN THE CLASSROOM and THE TOP 100 BUSINESS SCHOOLS, RANKED BY RESEARCH

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