$25M donation - Trinity University's largest ever - will help transform its business school

Trinity University announced a gift of $25 million, the largest in its history and intended to transform its business school, which will be named after the donor, Michael Neidorff. Neidorff graduated from Trinity in 1965 and is now chairman and executive officer of Centene Corporation, a Fortune 500 health insurance corporation. He is an alumnus of the university and a long-serving member of its board, and with his wife Noémi Neidorff and the Neidorff Family Trust has supported the university for many years. The $25 million will help complete a new building that will house the Michael Neidorff School of Business, and also fund new faculty positions, technology, scholarships and more. “At Trinity, whether you are a member of the Neidorff School of Business faculty, pursuing a degree in business, or are a student interested in taking a single business class, you will have access to the opportunities created by this generous gift,” Danny Anderson, Trinity’s president, said in a written statement.

“On behalf of the University, I want to thank Michael and Noémi for their longstanding support of Trinity.” “I attribute my accomplishments in part to the education I received at Trinity University,” Neidorff said in a prepared statement. “Additionally, I believe it is important to support your alma mater to whatever extent you can, therefore helping to ensure opportunities for future generations.” The business school will be housed in the new Chapman Center, which is slated to be completed in 2023 as part of a strategic plan for improvement. “It will complement the way our students work and the way our faculty teach,” Robert F. Scherer, the school’s dean, said in an interview. “To continue that legacy and move ahead in a dynamic business world, we need to have state-of-the-art facilities, our majors need to have the technological skills.” The plan isn’t to drastically increase the school’s enrollment or number of programs, Scherer said, but to invest in and enhance current programs to ensure every student gets the necessary tools and experience to thrive after graduation. “We don’t have thousands and thousands of business students,” Scherer said. “What we are trying to do is to continue that legacy by becoming the best that we can be through continuous improvement, through continuous enhancement of the five or six programs that we now have.”