Menlo College receives $500,000 business gift

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Mar 20, 2008 | by Neil Gonzales

ATHERTON -- A Menlo College alumnus has presented the school with a $500,000 gift for an endowed professorship chair in business.

"It is one of the largest gifts that Menlo College has received," said Catherine Reeves, the school's vice president for advancement.

The funds from the Woodard Family Foundation in Oregon will go toward raising $3 million to bring in a professor to teach a specialized area in the business field -- possibly real estate or entrepreneurship, Reeves said.

The professor would teach "in one of the most significant areas in business today," she added. "I think the future in this region is for entrepreneurial enterprise. Students will need to understand how to manage and develop a business as well as their vision."

The endowed chair is just part of Menlo's long-term effort to transform itself into a premier undergraduate business school.

Menlo "will be a feeder school to the Silicon Valley," Reeves said. "Students will learn how to be cutting-edge business people."

Andrew Woodard, a third-generation Menlo graduate, recently presented his family's gift to college President Timothy Haight.

"My family and I have a great appreciation and affection for the college," said Woodard, whose father, grandfather and other relatives attended Menlo.

Woodard also serves on the college board, and he and his family have been longtime contributors to Menlo.

"The Woodard family's commitment to education at Menlo College spans decades of the college's history and has been vital in helping the school flourish," Haight said.

The family's latest donation is the kind of contribution Menlo officials hope to get more of as they seek to substantially improve upon a current total endowment of $9 million.

"We're looking to build our endowment significantly in the next couple of years," Reeves said.

Staff writer Neil Gonzales covers education. He can be reached at 650-348-4338 or ngonzales@bayareanewsgroup.com.