CHICAGO — The University of Chicago announced Thursday that an alumnus has given its business school a $300 million gift, a record sum that comes as many universities worry they’ll see donations dry up amid the financial meltdown.
The unrestricted donation by David G. Booth, chairman and chief executive of Dimensional Fund Advisors, and his family is the largest individual gift ever to a U.S. business school and the largest in the University of Chicago’s history, said Dean Edward Snyder. The school will be renamed the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, said Snyder.
Booth, who previously gave the business school $10 million, said the first course he took with professor Eugene Fama was “life-changing.” He earned a master’s degree from the university in 1971.
“It’s not a gift … it’s the University of Chicago getting its due for helping me out all along the way,” Booth said.
