Major Gift to Yale SOM Will Fund New Library
A donation of $10 million from Yale alum Wilbur L. Ross–one of the largest gifts by an individual backing the new School of Management campus–is slated for a state-of-the-art library facility supporting teaching and research, the school announced last week.
The library will occupy a pivotal place in the new Yale SOM campus due to its planned location in the front of the building and in close proximity to classrooms. In addition to some of the familiar trappings of a library””quiet study space, publications collections, and a facility for librarian support””Yale says the new SOM library will make use of the latest information technology.
“Wilbur Ross is an icon in the world of restructuring and value investing,” says SOM dean Sharon Oster. “Mr. Ross’s support of the library””a cutting edge facility that will support the research of faculty and students alike””is especially appropriate given his own focus on the value of research in his deal work.”
Ross is an acknowledged industry leader in bankruptcy, restructuring, and privatization services, having assisted in restructuring more than $200 billion of corporate liabilities. He is a former member of the Yale University Council and a former board member of the Yale University Art Gallery. He has served on the Yale School of Management Board of Advisors since 2004.
“When I was an undergraduate at Yale, my father died, and Yale was a beacon that provided financial support,” says Ross. “This is a good opportunity to give something back. Since there was no business school at Yale at the time, I went to HBS. Since joining the Yale SOM board, I have become convinced that the quality of both faculty and students is world class and that they deserve a campus of equal quality. I also am honored to be able to support Norman Foster’s brilliant design for the new facilities.”
(Above, an illustration of a proposed design for library space in the new Yale SOM campus.)
