For what’s next in business education, research, and impact, the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan looks to you to help us carry out our bold vision for the future.
Business can and must be an avenue for positive change –that’s why our mission is to build a better world through business.
The world is calling on all of us to be the change we need now. At Michigan Ross, we embrace this call with vigor and determination.
With more than 100 years of business education and research excellence, a predisposition toward action and impact, and an exceptional community of passionate students, staff, alumni, and other partners, Ross is uniquely positioned to help address the grand challenges of our times.
When the world seeks transformative discoveries and collaborative solutions where business can be a force for good, when it demands a new way forward built on innovation, it looks to the University of Michigan and Michigan Ross. Join us as we shape the future as a community. Together, we will build a better world through business.
Greetings,
Thank you for your interest in the Look to Michigan Ross campaign.
At Michigan Ross, we’ve always been at the forefront of shaping the future of business leadership. Now, more than ever, we look to you to help us excel in action, impact, and community.
“Look to Michigan” isn’t just a university-wide fundraising campaign; it’s a rallying cry for collaboration, a testament to our shared commitment to excellence, and an invitation to foster what’s next in business education, research, and practice. Together, we will push boundaries, challenge the status quo, and engage the next generation of leaders to drive positive change in their communities and beyond.
Whether you’re a Ross graduate exploring opportunities to give back to your school or an existing donor interested in expanding your impact, you can help propel us toward a shared vision of the future. Every contribution makes a difference, from scholarships that put a Ross business education within reach for students to groundbreaking research initiatives that help tackle grand challenges at all scales.
As we look ahead with optimism and determination, we invite you to join us in the Look to Michigan Ross campaign. With you by our side, the possibilities are limitless. Together, we will continue to build a better world through business.
Go Blue!
Sharon F. Matusik
Edward
J. Frey Dean
Stephen
M. Ross Professor of Business
Stephen
M. Ross School of Business
University of Michigan
CHOOSE YOUR impact
Michigan Ross looks to you for support in one or more strategic campaign funding priorities:
Catalyzing Tomorrow’s Leaders
Igniting Transformational Research
Advancing Our Reputation, Reach, and Brand
In this document, we’ve provided some ideas for giving opportunities. However, please know that these reflect just a fraction of the gift options available. Please read on to learn more — and choose where you want to make an impact at Ross.
CATALYZING TOMORROW’S
To fulfill our mission of building a better world through business, Michigan Ross needs to prepare generations of Leaders & Best: graduates who are analytical, action-oriented, collaborative, and internationally astute. To do so, we are committed to offering a robust portfolio of scholarships, academic readiness programs, and action-based learning experiences, including those offered by Ross centers and institutes, and initiatives.
With your support, we can ensure that all students—including first-generation, transfer, or those from underresourced schools or communities—have access to a world-class business education at Ross. Together, we will foster economic inclusion and financial accessibility for our student body, with well-equipped graduates to thrive in a globally interconnected world..
What your gift can support:
> Scholarships: Student support remains our top funding priority. With your support, Michigan Ross can provide the best and brightest students with the resources they need to succeed in their studies and career searches. With you, we can ensure that Ross is the school employers count on for outstanding talent.
> Academic Readiness Programs: Ross oversees pipeline programs to introduce high school students to the school and academic readiness programs to help first-generation and transfer BBAs adapt and thrive once they arrive. Your support can help us expand and enhance these vital programs.
> Action-Based Learning: Michigan Ross has led experiential learning for decades, creating unique in-the-field projects and courses, like the Multidisciplinary Action Projects, which allow students to tackle actual business challenges in Ann Arbor and worldwide. Your support will help Ross maintain and build on its leadership position in this critical area as competing schools are increasingly emulating this approach.
> Internships: With opportunities to gain unparalleled professional experience at high-profile companies across the country and worldwide, we strive to provide resources to students that help cover the cost of living and travel-related expenses during their internships. Students who complete internships are typically more marketable and successful in their job searches.
> Immersive Experiences: Through case competitions, leadership challenges, and entrepreneurship workshops, students benefit from concrete opportunities to solve business problems and apply classroom knowledge to real-life situations. Your support will enable us to expand and enhance these programs so they are relevant to today’s pressing issues of AI, tech disruption, climate action, civil discourse, and more.
“With scholarship support, I was able to excel academically and also actively participate in leadership and community service initiatives. This investment in my education is a gift that will have a lasting impact, and I am determined to pay it forward by contributing positively to the world around me.”
- Abena Adu-Nyako, MBA ’24
“If I had to explain in one sentence why I established scholarships at Ross, I’d have to say because they’re a way to say thank you for the past and a way to help build the future.”
- Thomas C. Jones, BBA ’68, MBA ’71
At Michigan Ross, our pursuit of global impact fuels every endeavor. We pave the way for our faculty to boldly pursue transformational research that drives positive change across industries. We strive to make our thought leaders more visible, internally and externally, so they can apply their expertise to help solve pressing business challenges at all scales. From promoting sustainable business enterprise to navigating the ever-evolving tech landscape, we are fuel for progress — and solutions. With your support, we will transcend boundaries, shaping the future of business on local-to-global scales.
What your gift can support:
> Endowed Professorships: New, named professorships are critical for enabling Michigan Ross to recruit and retain renowned scholars, spur research innovation, and maintain a competitive edge among our peer schools. Your support of these influential teachers, researchers, and industry experts strengthens our ability to recruit and maintain the brightest minds in business.
> Research Support: Whether through new funds to invest in “grand-challenges” research or new conferences to bring faculty and executives together around pressing issues, we will look to donors to help support efforts to pursue collaborative, transformational research at Ross. We also seek to enhance research opportunities for Ross doctoral students — the business educators of the future — particularly around the university’s Vision 2034 priorities, including climate action and sustainability.
“As a graduate student research assistant at Ross, I have assisted in synthesizing and proposing a new method to evaluate the economic impacts of tax policy changes. Donor funding has greatly supported my studies, and I look forward to developing new research methods and deepening my understanding of key topics in my field.”
—
Rex Hsieh, PhD ’26
“One thing that has helped enhance the educational experience tremendously is bringing my research into the classroom. Students really see the value of bringing cutting-edge research into the classroom and relating it to the problems business leaders are tackling today.”
— Jim Omartian, Assistant Professor of Accounting, Clyne Crawford Teaching Fellow, and Ernst and Young Faculty Fellow
advancing OUR REPUTATION,
REACH, AND BRAND
The Michigan Ross community understands the value of a powerful and consistent brand. That’s why we commit to advancing our reputation, reach, and brand through multiple strategic investments, high-visibility initiatives, and best-practice activities. We invite you to join us on this journey of excellence and global preeminence so our school can forever be known and relied upon as a premier source of business talent, ideas, inspiration, and connection.
What your gift can support:
> MBA Leaders & Best: To boost and maintain our top rankings as a leading business school, we must successfully compete with better-funded business schools for top-performing applicants. Donorfunded, merit-based scholars programs allow us to attract and retain the best and brightest full-time MBA students. Our desirability as a top business school depends on it, as does our global brand.
> Executive Education: Michigan Ross already holds a top-ranked position in executive education, with high-performing business leaders participating in our programs from around the globe. Ross aims to build on this visibility and enhance participant satisfaction by fully renovating the Executive Learning and Conference Center in Ann Arbor and by expanding the portfolio of offerings.
> Michigan Ross Los Angeles: With nearly 20,000 square feet of modern, LEED-certified mixeduse space in downtown LA, this new campus (opening in winter 2026) will serve as a high-end hub for Executive MBA programming, industry conferences, alumni engagements, and more. We look forward to elevating our presence in this bustling area and leveraging its proximity to the Asia-Pacific region. Dean Sharon Matusik said this about the new location: “This is a tremendous opportunity to further expand the impact of the Ross School in a growing and thriving market known for innovation and as a place where new ideas, trends, and sectors emerge. It will open doors to new industries, perspectives, and opportunities for our students, faculty, and executive learners all over the world.”
> Sector Summits: Wherever Michigan Ross alumni convene, connections and ideas follow. We want to encourage that positivity and possibility — and nurture the Go Blue pride and affiliation — by facilitating industry summits from coast to coast on topics such as private equity, tech entrepreneurship, innovation, and more. We welcome investments and ideas to help bring alumni and industry experts together for these targeted gatherings. As a community, we can boost meaningful engagement — and elevate our brand in the process.
> Michigan Ross Annual Fund: To remain a leader in the changing higher education landscape, Ross needs flexible, discretionary resources to meet unexpected needs and seize strategic opportunities as they arise.
“Ross was a transformative experience for me, where I learned not only the fundamentals of business but also the skills and mindset to be a leader and a changemaker.”
— Sikander “Sonny” Khan, BBA ’20, Product Marketing Manager, Microsoft
“When you get to Michigan Ross, you’re surrounded by hardworking, smart, driven people, which drives you to do your best. I reflect on my time at Ross and know I learned a lot from my classes and peers.”
— Komal Sankla, BBA ’17, Principal, Blackstone
WHERE WILL YOU MAKE AN IMPACT AT ROSS?
For what’s next at Michigan Ross, we look to you.
With your partnership, the possibilities at Ross are endless. Your dedication and involvement will help shape our success. Please join us for the “Look to Michigan Ross” campaign, where your gift will make a difference for Ross students, our school, and the future.
Please scan the QR code below with your cell phone to open a webpage where you can learn more about planning and making a gift to Michigan Ross. If you’d prefer to speak with a gift officer, please contact us at (734) 647-0000.
Together, we will forge a new century of business leadership and impact — and build a better world through business.
Stephen M. Ross School of Business
University of Michigan
700 East University Ave. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1234
The Regents of the University of Michigan
Jordan B. Acker, Michael J. Behm, Mark J. Bernstein, Paul W. Brown, Sarah Hubbard, Denise Ilitch, Ron Weiser, Katherine E. White, Santa J. Ono (ex officio)
University of Michigan Nondiscrimination Policy Notice
The University of Michigan, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University of Michigan is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, height, weight, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. Inquiries or complaints may be addressed to the Senior Director for Institutional Equity, and Title IX/Section 504/ADA Coordinator, Office for Institutional Equity, 2072 Administrative Services Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1432, 734-763-0235, TTY 734-647-1388, institutional.equity@umich.edu. For other University of Michigan information call 734-764-1817.
