Michigan State University’s Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in East Lansing has received a $4.5 million gift that will be used to assist students who compete in business contests, recruit and retain instructors, and fund general activities and initiatives.
The $3 million cash and $1.5 million estate gift to the institute, which is housed in the university’s Eli Broad College of Business, was donated by Robert L. Burgess, an MSU alumnus and managing partner of Glengarry Partners, a business consulting firm in Bloomfield Hills.
He has served on several of the university’s boards, and previously made a $2 million gift to the institute in 2005.
“I feel very passionate about equipping MSU students with the best practical skills and tools to prepare them for entrepreneurial and creative problem-solving opportunities when they graduate,” Burgess says. “The endowment is geared to expanding initiatives that enable students to experience issues relevant in today’s dynamic and ever-changing business and social environment.”
The institute, which will be renamed the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, advances research on entrepreneurship, venture capital, and private equity; builds networks with business stakeholders; stimulates economic development in Michigan; supports the commercialization of intellectual property developed within MSU; and promotes student business innovation.
The university is seeking private support to provide learning opportunities to students through its $1.5 billion Empower Extraordinary capital campaign, which was launched in fall 2014.
To date, the Eli Broad College of Business has raised more than $107 million through the campaign, with more than $30 million in gifts for student support.
