Chapman University’s business school is becoming a college with the help of its namesake benefactor.
University officials said a newly announced “transformative gift” of $10 million from the Argyros family “has led to the elevation” of the George L. Argyros School of Business and Economics to the George L. Argyros College of Business and Economics.
The shift to a college “provides an umbrella for schools dedicated to various areas of research and teaching, like the new Burra School of Accounting and Finance,” Dean Henrik Cronqvist said.
Along with allowing development in more areas of business study, university officials said the investment will help the school in its goal to continue rising in the ranks of business programs in the country.
Argyros, a businessman and member of the Class of 1957, first stepped in to help the university in 1975 — during a period of financial struggle, university officials said — and continued his support through the years. In 1999, the business school was named in his honor.
Argyros is the longest-serving chair of Chapman’s Board of Trustees and several other facilities on campus bear the family name.
“This gift will propel Argyros into one of the top business schools in the nation by enabling us to continue offering excellent, personalized education in business and economics that aligns with industry needs,” Chapman President Daniele C. Struppa said in a statement.
The gift was announced during the recent visit to the school by Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who was there as the inaugural speaker in the new Argyros’ Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series.
During the event in the Musco Center for the Arts, Johnson spoke and took questions posed by Cronqvist and after talked further with students.
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