Cornell Receives $25M Donation To Expand MBA Program
The Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management has received a $25 million gift from alumnus David Breazzano, one of the largest donations ever made to business education at Cornell.
Breazzano’s gift will help fund the state-of-the-art, six-story classroom and office complex currently under construction in Ithaca’s Collegetown.
In recognition of the historic gift, Dean Soumitra Dutta said the Cornell University leadership will recommend the Cornell Board of Trustees name the MBA program’s new Collegetown building the Breazzano Family Center for Business Education.
“Johnson helped me discover my passion and aptitude… That solid foundation has helped me throughout my career… I always knew I wanted to give back when I was in a position to do so.” David Breazzano
The 76,000-square-foot building, a modern design of glass and wood, is set to open in summer 2017 and will serve Johnson MBA and executive education students.
While conceived primarily to support Johnson’s growth in programs, the school says the Breazzano Family Center will also serve a broader cross-section of business students on the Ithaca campus via its lecture halls, breakout rooms and event space.
“This is the first major gift since the creation of the Cornell College of Business,” said Breazzano, who believes the gift will underscore “the value of combining the synergies of the schools.”
“Dave is an extraordinary leader of the Johnson alumni community,” said Dutta, who will assume his new role as dean of the Cornell College of Business later this year. “He has supported greater collaboration among schools at Cornell and believes the synergies that will result from the Cornell College of Business will benefit all. We are deeply grateful for his willingness to provide such a generous investment in support of Johnson’s continued excellence in business education.”
