The University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce today announced a $10 million gift from John P. Connaughton and Stephanie F. Connaughton to establish the Connaughton Bicentennial Scholars Fund.
Matched with $10 million from the University’s Bicentennial Scholars Fund, the gift creates a total impact of $20 million. The significant commitment by the Connaughtons will endow need-based scholarships for undergraduate students as well as fund efforts to launch “Commerce for the Common Good,” a strategic initiative that will guide the Commerce School in the early part of its second century.
“Having spent our professional careers in the private sector, we believe that business can and must be a constructive force in addressing the enormous issues facing our society and our economy,” said John Connaughton, a 1987 McIntire graduate. “This groundbreaking initiative, imagined by President Jim Ryan, Dean Nicole Thorne Jenkins and the leadership at the McIntire School, will help fuel and prepare students to apply their business and entrepreneurial skills toward addressing a host of critical issues. At the same time, their work will inspire business leaders to do what we can to amplify and enhance the positive impact we can have on the world and in our communities.”