Gifts honor Mays Business School’s faculty

Former students and friends often express gratitude to their former professors with gifts in their honor to the Texas A&M Foundation. In recent years, several Mays faculty members have been honored through these types of gifts.

In Fall 2018, a group of former Business Senior Fellows surprised Executive Professor John Van Alstyne ’66 and his wife Anita with the establishment of the Mays Fellows Endowed Excellence Fund in the couple’s name. This endowment through the Texas A&M Foundation will support the Business Fellows program’s students, teaching, and professional development.

Van Alstyne joined Mays in 2010 after serving as commandant of Texas A&M University’s Corps of Cadets. In his current role, the general oversees the Business Fellows Program, one of Mays’ premier undergraduate leadership development program.

The fund’s creation was spearheaded by Kevin von Storch ’15 and 10 classmates, who served as Senior Fellows and assisted Van Alstyne with the program. “We spent considerable time around Anita and General,” von Storch said. “We wanted to do something that would allow their impact and legacy to be known forever among the Fellows.”

These graduates are working with former Fellows and Senior Fellows to fund the endowment. Von Storch said. “It speaks to just how appreciative the Fellows and Senior Fellows are of General’s and Anita’s focus and diligence in preparing, coaching, and mentoring us.”

Other gifts honoring Mays faculty include:

• The Friends of Ed Elmore Endowed Scholarship, created by an anonymous gift. Elmore, who retired in Spring 2018, taught management, finance, and real estate.
• The Wayne Etter Real Estate Excellence Fund, created by Fred ’82 and Susan Caldwell ’82 in honor of Etter, professor emeritus of finance
• The Richard L. “Dick” Haney Jr. Scholarship, established by Fred ’82 and Susan Caldwell ’82 in honor of Haney, professor emeritus of real estate and finance
• Naming the Department of Accounting in honor of Deloitte Foundation Leadership Professor James J. Benjamin. This effort was set in motion with two lead gifts totaling $4 million in a $10 million fundraising campaign.
• The MBA Class of 2010-Dayna Rasco Service Excellence Scholarship Fund, established to honor Rasco, a former staff member at Mays MBA programs