Newswise, April 14, 2016 — University of Chicago
Booth School of Business alumnus Eric Gleacher has made a $10 million gift to his
alma mater to fund a groundbreaking scholarship program for U.S. veterans
seeking a Chicago Booth MBA.
The Gleacher Veteran Scholars Fund will provide a
permanent source of scholarship support to help veterans bridge the gap between
the benefits they have earned from the government and the remaining costs
associated with receiving their MBA degrees from Booth.
The number of veteran students in Booth’s programs
has increased substantially over the past several years, and currently, there
are 78 veterans enrolled.
“My experience in the Marine Corps gave me a boost
in self-confidence, and my Booth education gave me direction, helping me decide
which area of business I wanted to pursue,” Gleacher said.
“It was a winning combination, and I want to make it
possible for those who have served our country to have the same opportunity.”
Booth has built a reputation for providing veteran
support through participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program, a voluntary program
that allows universities to enter into an agreement with the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs to fund tuition and fee expenses that exceed the established
thresholds under the Post 9/11 GI Bill.
The Gleacher Veteran Scholars Fund will serve as a
permanent source of scholarship support, allowing Booth to sustain and expand
its financial support for veterans.
“Military veterans bring a great deal to the Chicago
Booth community in terms of their experience, commitment to service, and
maturity. I’m delighted we have significantly increased the number of veterans
in our programs,” said Sunil Kumar, Booth Dean and George Pratt Shultz
Professor of Operations Management.
“Eric’s gift will make pursuing an MBA at
Booth significantly more affordable for many of these veterans, and thus will
have a substantially positive impact on the Booth community as a whole.”
After completing his undergraduate work at
Northwestern University in 1962, Gleacher served as an infantry officer in the
U.S. Marine Corps for three years prior to earning his MBA at Booth in 1967.
Gleacher joined Lehman Brothers in 1968 in New York.
He became a partner in 1973 and founded the firm's mergers and acquisitions
business. He went on to head the mergers and acquisitions practice at Morgan
Stanley, where he played a pivotal role in some of the highest-profile business
deals of the 1980s: Revlon, Texaco, Union Carbide, and RJR Nabisco, among
others. With others, Gleacher is credited with creating the business of merger
advice.
In 1990, he founded Gleacher and Company, a
successful mergers and acquisition boutique which he ran and developed until
2009 when he sold it and retired as CEO.
“The Marines taught me a great deal about
leadership, which is crucial to the success of every business,” Gleacher said.
“Most veterans have learned those same leadership skills, which can be
successfully applied in a variety of business contexts. A Booth MBA can inspire
veteran students as future business leaders, preparing them for successful
careers as entrepreneurs and executives in major companies.”
In 1996, Gleacher gave $15 million to Booth to help
finance its downtown Chicago riverfront Gleacher Center, which houses Booth’s
evening and weekend programs, as well as its North American executive program.
