After the largest individual gift in the history of the University of Vermont, the UVM school of business has been renamed in honor of the donor, Steven Grossman, a 1961 graduate and a long-time supporter of the school.

"We have renamed the business school The Grossman School of Business," said UVM president Tom Sullivan, "in tribute to Steven Grossman's visionary philanthropy on behalf of the business school and the University. This is the kind of gift that can transform a school or college and elevate it significantly on the national stage."

The $20 million gift from the Grossman Family Foundation funds three endowed academic positions: the Steven Grossman Chairs in Entrepreneurship, Finance, and Sustainable Business. The gift will also provide resources to support teaching and program priorities as the school aims to become one of the top undergraduate business programs in the nation and among the best MBA programs in the world.

“This gift will directly support our aspiration to position UVM as one of the nation’s top public research universities: making UVM a talent magnet to attract the best faculty and scholars from across the land to our university,’’ Sullivan said.  “We are profoundly appreciative of the generosity of this gift and what it will do for UVM.’’

Grossman's gift was the culmination of two days of gift announcements at UVM leading up to the public launch Friday of the university's $500 million comprehensive fundraising campaign, which runs through June 30, 2019. 

“In the spirit that I was taught and believe in, I have always given to this university,” said Grossman, who spoke at a ceremony at the business school Friday. “I had some of the best years of my life here.  I received what I felt was an excellent education and I have always had a warm spot in my heart for UVM.”

Until the sale of the company in 2008, Grossman was the CEO of Southern Container Corp., a manufacturer of custom corrugated packaging and a business started by his grandfather in 1904. Since 2010, he has been a trustee of the Grossman Family Foundation of Cos Cob, Conn., a charitable organization. He is a member of the UVM Foundation Board of Directors and Foundation Leadership Council; former member of the Business School Board of Advisors 1985-1998; and has been a business school guest speaker on several occasions.

“As the school’s direction under the leadership of Dean Sanjay Sharma came into sharper focus, I felt that the business school was on the verge of a transformative change and what they need to make the change was the right amount of capital. Thus this gift. This process was not an exact science but rather a feeling from my heart and soul,” Grossman said.

Applications to the Grossman School are up sharply in recent years, with 955 undergraduate students now enrolled – an increase of nearly 40 percent since 2011. The new Master of Accountancy program recently welcomed its largest class ever, with 40 students. In 2014, UVM launched a full-time, one-year MBA program in Sustainable Entrepreneurship (SEMBA), which is helping students build profitable businesses that address major sustainability challenges, such as clean water and energy, climate change, health care equality and access to digital communication. The program has attracted students from as far away as South America and California, with an average of 10 years’ experience in the business world.

Recently, the Grossman School’s Family Business initiative was ranked in the top 25 programs in the world, joining other elite institutions such as Harvard, Cornell and Northwestern.

The Grossman School of Business is only the second of UVM's ten schools and colleges to be named in honor of an individual for outstanding philanthropic support. The first was the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, named in 2003 in honor of Steven ’61 and Beverly Rubenstein of New Vernon, N.J., whose $15 million gift brought UVM into the national spotlight of environmental and natural resource programs.

University officials believe the Grossman gift will have a similar impact on the business school.

“The timing of the gift is propitious as the School continues its progress into the ranks of the world’s finest via revamped and new programs, world class faculty, dedicated staff, and the most talented class of students in UVM’s history,’’ said Sanjay Sharma, dean of the Grossman School of Business.

“In our journey toward global recognition and success, we are proud to represent the spirit of entrepreneurship, integrity and responsible business that has been the hallmark of Mr. Grossman’s career,” Sharma said. “We honor with tremendous gratitude Mr. Steven Grossman’s long-held vision for a world-class business school at UVM.”