By Betsy Mennell, Associate Vice President for University Development
Tim and Rhonda Snider have been especially generous to Northern Arizona University. So have William Franke, of course, the Johnson Scholarship Foundation and Arizona Public Service.
Donations large and small are increasing at NAU because donors realize that their investment in higher education leads to personal success for students and economic growth for the state. While gifts of all sizes make a difference, lately the university has been the recipient of several that are a million dollars or more.
It’s a testament to our faculty, staff, students and administrators that generous benefactors see NAU’s role in the future for young adults, and it’s a future they want to support.
Many donors choose to support scholarships because providing financial aid is one of the best and simplest ways to help our students.
But there are other opportunities as well. For example:
- Twenty students from NAU’s Franke College of Business will travel to Omaha to meet with business magnate and philanthropist Warren Buffett, participate in a Q&A session with him and tour two of his companies. Contributions from alumni and friends support student travel costs, so students’ ability to pay is not a factor in the application process for who is chosen to represent NAU on this trip.
- A private grant allows dental hygiene students to deliver dental care on the Navajo reservation, providing free care for those who may not be able to afford it, as well as affording students an opportunity to enhance their skills.
- Tim and Rhonda Snider will establish a $1,000,000 endowment for the Snider Family Scholarship Fund to support first-generation college students with family obligations.
About 40 percent of NAU’s students are first-generation students, meaning they are the first in their families to attend an institution of higher learning. We know that financial need is significant. We also know that when these students graduate, their economic situation will vastly improve, which benefits their families and all of Arizona.
Thanks for this update, Betsy! Well DONE~!!
PLUS, you have added another talking point to my collection of information about
why NAU is our favorite school…………that about 40% of the NAU’S students are first-generation! That is IMPRESSIVE.
And I understand that the student-athlete graduation rate is STILL above the average of the entire student body. (That is ALSO a very impressive marker….I hope it is still true?)
Larry, thank you for your kind words. Yes, NAU’s student athletes have a higher graduation rate and cumulative GPA than the entire student body.
Betsy:
Thanks for the update. You enthusiasm and dedication to one of our favorite educational institutions (and certainly the one that represents “best value”) is always inspirational.
If anyone ever wants to know why they should send their students to and support NAU, have them call us: we’ll provide them with three shining examples!
Bob and Maryett,
Thank you for your continued support!
Kudos to alumni Scott Coor for orchestrating the Franke donation and the opportunity for the NAU Business College students to meet Warren Buffet one-on-one! Also, many thanks to Marcy Olajos for her $1 million+ endowment to the NAU Biology Department for the Olajos/Goslow Chair. Alumni make a real difference and I know NAU is proud of their alumna. See articles below:
Bill Franke makes $25 million contribution to NAU
William Franke has pledged $25 million to Northern Arizona University’s College of Business—the largest contribution in the history of the institution according to University President John Haeger. Franke expects this contribution to be transformational not only to Northern Arizona University and the College of Business, but ultimately to the business community in the state of Arizona.
Franke, former chairman of America West Airlines (now U.S. Airways) explains that he is dedicated to investing in the economic future of Arizona and recognizes business education as a force for economic development and social change.
The business college has been renamed the W. A. Franke College of Business and the contribution will be invested in programs designed to strengthen NAU’s focus on an undergraduate core that centers on strategic business planning.
The school’s curriculum concentrates on skills that Franke considers critical to business success: excellence in oral and written communication and business planning. Committed to experiential learning, NAU provides opportunities to undergraduate students that often are reserved for graduate students. For example:
In October 2006, 41 students and two faculty members visited Omaha to tour two of Warren Buffett’s companies and have lunch and a question-and-answer session with Mr. Buffett.
College of Business students manage $975,000 of the NAU Foundation’s endowment through The Student Managed Investment Fund.
Students spend one-on-one time with Arizona business executives, observing them “in action,” on the job through The Executive Shadow Program.
Franke, a Stanford graduate, explains that he felt the $25 million contribution would make the most difference at NAU. He is particularly interested in recruiting and retaining Native American, Hispanic and first-generation students into the business college. His vision aligns with NAU’s mission to focus on undergraduate education and service to minority and first-generation students. Eighty-six percent of NAU business students are from Arizona with roughly that same percentage staying in state upon graduation.
Currently the managing partner of Indigo Partners, a private equity fund focused on worldwide investments in air transportation, Franke is known for restructuring the bankrupt Circle K. Corp. and serving as the turn-around chief executive officer of America West Airlines from 1993-2001. Although he has no formal ties to Northern Arizona University he has strong ties to Arizona and the Flagstaff area as former CEO of the Fortune 500 forest products company Southwest Forest Industries and former owner of KNAZ-TV Channel 2 in Flagstaff.
NAU graduate and Phoenix businessman Scott Coor initiated talks with Franke on behalf of the university nearly three years ago. Coor, a partner in Trendwood Inc., explains, “NAU is the best kept secret in the state and it’s time to make its reputation known. The university personally gave me a chance when my SAT scores and high school grades didn’t meet the criteria for admissions.” Determined to get a college degree, he ultimately made the Dean’s List his last two years and earned a degree in Business Administration and Marketing. Consequently he has a great desire to give back to NAU.
In addition to his own time and donations, Coor continued to keep Franke apprised of planning, development and achievements at NAU and ultimately arranged meetings between Haeger, his executive staff, Business College Dean Mason Gerety and Director of Development Betsy Putman and Franke.
Coor explains, “Carey (ASU), Eller (U of A) and Garvin (Thunderbird) have Arizona business schools named for them and Franke also has had a great impact on the state. He has touched the lives of thousands of Arizonans throughout his career and he has many ties to the Flagstaff and northern Arizona region. I know he subscribes to Warren Buffett’s philosophy of ‘Learn, earn and return’ so I just encouraged him to consider his ability to ignite the growth at NAU and help propel it to the next level.”
Coor first met Franke in 1976 when he was a student and vice president of the Delta Sigma Pi Business fraternity. Franke was President of Southwest Forest Industries and accepted Coor’s invitation to speak at the NAU College of Business. Recalling his nervousness in meeting the respected businessman, Coor laughs, “I didn’t think my jeep was quite right for the occasion so I borrowed a girlfriend’s car to go pick him up.”
That proved to be a fateful meeting for the two because Coor graduated that year and Franke hired him to work at Southwest Forest Industries. Coor spent nearly ten years there before pursuing his own business endeavors, but has always kept in touch with Franke who he considers to be a brilliant businessman who has made some very tough decisions to make companies viable in this state. Coor is convinced that this generous donation has laid the cornerstone for unprecedented growth and excellence at NAU.
President Haeger concurs noting that Franke’s donation will make an invaluable impact on the 20,000-student university and create momentum for future donations. A significant portion of Franke’s gift will be donated up front with the remainder distributed later through an endowment.
BIO Info
William A. Franke
Managing Partner
Indigo Partners and Newbridge Latin America
Resident of Paradise Valley
Earned a Law degree from Stanford University
Career history:
Chief Executive Officer of Southwest Forest Industries, Inc. (now
Smurfit-Stone Container);
Chief Executive Officer and chairman of America West Airlines (now U.S. Airways)
Chairman of the Executive Committee of Valley National Bank (now Chase Bank);
Chairman of the Circle K Corp., which he restructured through bankruptcy.
Married to Carolyn Franke with whom he has five adult children
Community activity:
Chairman of Phoenix 40, member of the International Board of Barrow
Neurological Institute, chairman of COMPAS (arts funding), member of the Dean’s Council, Arizona State University business college, and the Dean’s Circle, Stanford Law School. In addition the Franke family has supported the Sojourner Center in Phoenix, the United Way, Stanford (endowed professorship), and has established minority student scholarships at Northern, Arizona University, Arizona State University, and the University of Arizona, among others.
William Scott Coor
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Trendwood Inc.
Third-generation Arizonan and Phoenix Resident
Earned a Business Administration and Marketing degree from NAU
Career history:
Sales and business-development positions for Southwest Forest Industries, Inc.
The past 22 years Coor has grown Trendwood’s industry-recognized quality American-made furniture.
Married to Debbie Weber Coor, an NAU nursing graduate. They have two grown children.
Community Activity:
Fundraising for Northern Arizona University
Received the 2006 Volunteer of the Year Award from Northern Arizona University.
Boy Scouts of America
NAU President Heralds $1.5 Million Endowment by Alumna as “University funding of the future.”
Northern Arizona University President John Haeger thanked alumna Marcey Olajos (BS Biology ’75) for her $1.5 million endowment gift and cited this type of contribution as the “future of university funding” in light of economic challenges and education budget cuts nationwide. Marcey Olajos said she decided to create the endowment now, during her lifetime, in order to provide timely support for NAU’s innovative academic and research efforts. She explained that she will enjoy taking part in the process of helping expand NAU’s influence as a leader of conservation in the Southwest and seeing this work benefit students.
During the recent reception, where top NAU administrators honored Marcey Olajos’ contribution, President Haeger remarked, “Our students and alumni are exceptional and the faculty, staff and I are humbled and honored by those who give back and support continued academic and personal excellence at NAU.” Doubling the impact of this sixth endowed chair at Northern Arizona University is the dollar-for-dollar match provided by the state’s Eminent Scholars Program.
Marcey Olajos created the Olajos-Goslow Chair of Southwestern Environmental Science and Policy at Northern Arizona University to honor two people: her conservation-oriented father, Charles Olajos, and former NAU biology professor, Ted Goslow, who inspired her with his passion and commitment to his students’ success. The Chair has been designed to support interdisciplinary work and link scientific research and public policy.
“The Olajos-Goslow Chair represents the difference that individuals such as alumna Marcey Olajos can make, and the invaluable support they can provide. We are pleased that the $60,000 initially generated by the endowment will increase our efforts in the realm of sustainability and policy in the Southwest,” said Paul Jagodzinski, dean of the College of Engineering, Forestry and Natural Sciences.
The first holder of the Olajos-Goslow Chair is Tom Sisk, professor of ecology and founder of the university’s Lab of Landscape Ecology and Conservation Biology in the NAU College of Engineering, Forestry and Natural Sciences. Marcey Olajos said she sees in Sisk the same kind of wisdom and enthusiasm she experienced in the 1970’s working as a research assistant in Ted Goslow’s lab. She and Sisk also share a deep passion for preserving the desert Southwest, a mission that Charles Olajos instilled in his young daughter.
Sisk noted NAU’s “long history of excellence in ecology and environmental conservation,” explaining that the endowment will help link those strengths to “new and ongoing efforts to safeguard our land, water, and natural resources during this period of rapid environmental change.” Sisk indicated that these efforts encompass working with students, fellow academicians and researchers, land and resource managers, and community leaders.
Marcey Olajos, who graduated from NAU with a degree in biology, spent her career in medical research and is active with numerous conservation and education organizations, including the Wyss Foundation, which since 2008, has supported NAU graduate students through the Wyss Scholars Program for the Conservation of the American West. She currently resides in Durango, Colorado.
Ted Goslow commented that he was humbled by this honor as well as his association with the many NAU students and colleagues with whom he was privileged to work. Goslow, who spent the later part of his career teaching at Brown University in Rhode Island and retired to Portland, Oregon, where he remains engaged in biology and is writing an anatomy text.
Kathy,
Absolutely much of NAU’s fund raising success is attributable to wonderful volunteers such as Scott & Debbie Coor, and to faculty members such as Tom Sisk. We are grateful to community members such as Bill Franke and alumni such as Marcey Olajos who believe NAU is a worthwhile investment.