University of Chicago Booth School of Business alumna Amy Wallman, MBA’75, and alumnus Richard Wallman, MBA’74, have made a $75 million gift to the University, building upon their legacy of philanthropic support of students and faculty.
In recognition of this gift, Chicago Booth will name its academic high honors distinction after the Wallmans. This group of top students will be known as the Amy and Richard F. Wallman Scholars at Chicago Booth. The designation will be permanently bestowed upon graduating MBA students who earn high honors at Booth, as well as all alumni who have already achieved this distinction.
“The University of Chicago Booth School of Business is a destination for the world’s most promising business students and scholars,” said President Robert J. Zimmer. “We are deeply grateful for the Wallmans’ gift, which will support our students and honor their accomplishments.”
The school plans to use the gift to support a number of initiatives, including scholarships for students in the full-time, evening, weekend and executive MBA programs. This will allow Booth to recruit from a broader and more diverse set of students and offer expanded financial assistance.
“We have great affection for the University of Chicago—the Booth School of Business is world-class, and we hope our gift makes it even better,” Amy Wallman said. “The Booth School is very special to us, not only because we met there,” Richard Wallman added, “but also because we have sponsored 26 scholarship recipients over the years and are delighted to have had a modest impact on these students’ lives.”
After earning her MBA from Chicago Booth in 1975, Amy Wallman began her career at EY and retired as an audit partner in 2001; most recently, she was director at Omnicare from 2004 to 2015. Richard Wallman graduated from Booth in 1974 and began his career with the Ford Motor Company. He served as the chief financial officer and senior vice president of Honeywell International Inc., a diversified industrial technology and manufacturing company, and its predecessor AlliedSignal, from 1995 to 2003. Richard Wallman also served in senior financial positions with IBM and Chrysler Corporation.
“The transformative gift from Amy and Richard is a testament to their generosity and the endorsement of Chicago Booth’s enduring strengths, in our programs and our extraordinary faculty,” said Booth Dean Madhav Rajan. “Maintaining and extending Booth’s prominence in research and enhancing the impact of our ideas on the world by training tomorrow’s leaders is essential for our continued success. The Wallman Scholars will be recognized as preeminent in this cadre of future leaders, modeling the potential and the spirit of their benefactors. I look forward to working with the Wallmans in using their gift to make the greatest impact.”
Funds from the gift also will be used to enhance Booth’s co-curricular programming, faculty research and emerging priorities at the discretion of the dean.
“Amy and I were so impressed with Dean Rajan’s vision for the school; we hope our gift will help advance that vision,” said Richard Wallman.
“This is a unique opportunity to make a difference in the careers of Chicago Booth students for generations to come and express our gratitude to those who have helped us,” Amy Wallman said. “Our parents were great role models to both of us; they gave us the confidence that we could accomplish anything.”
Richard Wallman also gave credit to Larry Bossidy, former chairman and CEO of Honeywell International Inc.
“Working for Larry Bossidy is the best thing that happened in my career—he’s affected my life in so many positive ways,” Richard Wallman added. “We also wish to express our deep appreciation to our dear friends at Centerbridge Partners and Merrill Lynch, as they were key enablers of this gift.”
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
