Jay H. Shidler, the Honolulu businessman who has donated more than $230 million in cash, land leases and in-kind donations to the University of Hawaii at Manoa, has given an additional $5 million to the business school.
The latest contribution to the Shidler College of Business, which is being announced today, adds to Shidler’s gifts of $117 million in cash and real estate ground leases in 2017, $69 million in 2014 and his initial $25 million in 2006, among others.
Shidler, a 1968 UH business alumnus and managing partner of The Shidler Group, has now given the equivalent of $238 million to the school in cash, land leases and in-kind donations — a total that is both the largest individual donation in the university’s 110-year history and the second-largest known gift to any U.S. business school at a public university, UH said.
University officials said the latest donation will support faculty research and student scholarships, underwrite visiting faculty and outreach activities, plus provide matching funds for investments in programs and existing endowments.
“Jay’s extraordinary vision and partnership with the college is further magnified with this latest gift,” Vance Roley, dean of the college and First Hawaiian Bank’s chair of leadership and management, said in a news release. “His commitment to continually elevate the college is not only commendable, but demonstrates his pride as an alumnus, as well as a deep understanding of higher education’s impact to Hawaii’s overall well-being and prosperity.”
Roley told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Sunday that Shidler’s most recent $5 million cash donation will be used primarily to fund research support and alumni engagement.
He said research support includes funding for databases and assistants. It also provides funds for visits from well-known faculty, generally for a month to a semester, which “helps the research environment of the college.”
Roley said alumni engagement includes visiting alumni in locations throughout the Pacific Rim. “We need to engage these alumni. That gives more financial support to the college, but also they provide internships and they are great mentors.”
UH changed the name of its business school to the Shidler College of Business with Shidler’s initial gift of $25 million in 2006.
“It is truly an honor to positively impact the institution and community that instilled many foundational skills and stability in my formative years,” Shidler said in a news release. “The many business connections, skill sets and guidance I garnered from the college were paramount in establishing my own business. It is incredible that I am now able to impact positive, real change on tomorrow’s business graduates, and ultimately the next generation of leaders in Hawaii.”
Since that first gift, endowments to the college have grown to 43 from six, and the college has awarded over $1 million in scholarships annually, Roley said.
“It has really allowed us to recruit world-class faculty — it’s just a huge impact on the college,” he said.
In the latest college rankings in U.S. News & World Report, Shidler College of Business placed 13th in international undergraduate business programs and 128th out of the 516 undergraduate business programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
Shidler spent his childhood as part of an Army family that was frequently on the move. He made Hawaii his permanent home in 1964.
Following his graduation from UH in 1968, Shidler was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. After leaving the service in 1971, he formed what would become The Shidler Group, which today invests equity and debt capital in U.S. commercial properties and portfolios, and creates and capitalizes new real estate-related companies.
In 2015 the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business named Shidler one of the world’s 100 most influential leaders impacting business education and recognized him as one of the 50 most generous alumni donors.
Shidler’s contributions have led to a “band-wagon effect,” Roley said. “We are getting huge support from other alumni and the business community as well.”
Shidler and his wife of 47 years, Wallette, have a daughter, Summer, and five grandchildren. He is an active trustee of several charitable organizations, including the Shidler Family Foundation.
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Star-Advertiser reporter Allison Schaefers contributed to this story.
