Spring 2006

$4 million commitment establishes business school chair

Thomas J. Petters, CEO and chairman of Petters Group Worldwide, has once again shown his generosity to Miami University by making his second significant gift to The Miami University Campaign For Love and Honor. Petters has committed $4 million to the university to benefit the Richard T. Farmer School of Business. The gift will be used to create the Jennifer Petters Chair in Asian Business, named in honor of Petters’ daughter.

In 2004, a gift of $10 million, also to the Richard T. Farmer School of Business, was used to establish the John T. Petters Center for Leadership, Ethics and Skills Development. Petters’ son, John, was a junior at Miami in 2004 when he died tragically while on spring break in Italy.

This most recent gift will financially support an individual of national and international stature who will provide intellectual scholarship and leadership in the area of Chinese/American business. The commitment is especially important as the business school is building a reputation for preparing students to work in the global economy, with concentration on China in particular.

“I am pleased to continue to invest in the school of business because I believe in the vision of the school, its strategy of instilling a global perspective in its students, and especially its new focus on China,” Petters said.

Petters Group Worldwide, based in Minnetonka, Minn., has long invested in China and is working to develop a Living and Learning Center in Shanghai. The proposed residential center would create an educational facility there to serve business and academic communities from the U.S. and China. “I look forward to partnering with Miami University in this center,” added Petters.

“Endowing the chair in Asian business will add to our strength and bring a pertinent international focus to our students,” said Miami President Jim Garland. “High-caliber faculty are the primary reason for Miami’s academic quality, and adding a scholar in an area of enormous growing interest will serve our students as they prepare to be world citizens.”

“We truly appreciate Tom’s vision and leadership in partnering with us to achieve for the school of business a stronger and more enduring presence internationally, and especially in China, which is one of our most important initiatives,” said Roger Jenkins, dean of the Richard T. Farmer School of Business.

Tom Petters is a volunteer on the business school’s advisory council and board of visitors. Last spring, he was inducted into the Miami University Academy of Entrepreneurs at the Thomas C. Page Center for Entrepreneurship.