At his installation as UNC chancellor on Sunday, Kevin Guskiewicz announced new donations to the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School that will enable its significant expansion.

Steve Bell, who graduated from UNC in 1967, has committed $25 million to support a new building for the professional school. The chairman of Bell Partners, a Greensboro-based apartment investment and management company, announced in May he’d make an $11 million gift, but has since increased his donation to bring about the expansion more quickly.

Additionally, an anonymous donor has committed to matching Bell’s gift of $25 million, said Guskiewicz. The two gifts are the largest ever made to the Kenan-Flagler Business School by individuals, according to the university.

Bell spoke to Chapelboro about his decision to increase his gift to the university.

“I love our state of North Carolina, I’m proud of our state,” he described. “I really believe we have a great long-term future. But I believe our future would be better and brighter if we could double the size of this business school.”

UNC says demand for a business degree exceeds the available space in the McColl Building, which opened in 1997. The university says Kenan-Flagler has approximately 1,000 undergraduate business, 400 master of accounting, 1,600 MBA and 70 PhD students. A new building, which would be named in Bell’s honor, could make it possible to increase enrollment in the school’s undergraduate business program by at least 50%.

Bell described an expansion like this as “long overdue.”

“They’ve only increased enrollment at Kenan-Flagler about ten percent over the last multiple decades,” he said, “and half the people that would like to go the business school are not accepted. But if we can [increase] its size, it’s a win-win for our state.”

Calling it the greatest gift of his lifetime, Bell said the decision will impact many future generations of Kenan-Flagler graduates, who he hopes will go on to innovate within North Carolina and progress the state even further. He also said he wishes his gift could inspire graduates to consider giving the university with this same philosophy.

“There are thousands and thousands of business school graduates that have benefited from that education, from those relationships they created,” said Bell. “I hope they will want to give back, not only to the university, but to [North Carolina.]”

Additional state funding is available for UNC to use for expansion of the business school if a private funding threshold is reached. According to a North Carolina General Assembly bill signed by Governor Roy Cooper in July, the state could provide $75 million in funding to enhance Kenan-Flager’s campus if an additional $75 million is raised by private funding by June 30, 2022.

UNC reports with these two gifts announced Sunday, the university has raised $58 million in private funding for the business school’s new building.

Photo via Carolina Case Challenge.

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees. You can support local journalism and our mission to serve the community. Contribute today – every single dollar matters.

Related Stories
‹
UNC Celebrates Business School Expansion's Construction with 'Topping Off' Ceremony
Construction at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s expansion is progressing, with university leaders gathering with students on Friday to celebrate the latest construction milestone. UNC hosted a “topping off” ceremony for Steven D. Bell Hall, which saw the final steel beam of the structure put into place high above the ground. Before a crane picked […]
UNC Officially Begins Business School Expansion, Shares Concept Art
Work to expand UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School officially got underway Thursday morning, as a groundbreaking ceremony was hosted in the school’s plaza area. While plans and fundraising work to create an expansion to the nationally-recognized school have been ongoing for years, the $150 million renovation earned the formal stamp of approval from Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz. […]
'Calm Before The Storm': Despite Strong Employment Report, UNC Economist Cautions of Consumer Concerns
The May employment report released by the federal government is relatively promising for the U.S. labor market. But underlying trends and declarations by President Donald Trump’s administration have UNC experts saying there are still reasons to expect an economic slowdown.
UNC Field Hockey's Erin Matson, Professor Jim Johnson Honored With Statewide Awards
Ten people, including three with ties to UNC, were given some of the state's top honors Thursday by North Carolina Governor Josh Stein.
UNC System Chooses Kenan-Flagler Alum, Former Domino's CEO as Latest UNC-Chapel Hill Trustee
Ritch Allison — who was formally selected Thursday by the UNC System — will fill the Board of Trustees seat left vacant by Dave Boliek.
New UNC Humanities Scholarship Formed by $10 Million Gift
Stephen Israel, a UNC graduate in the Class of 1966, gifted $10 million to create a new undergraduate humanities scholarship.
Mary Margaret Frank Named Dean of UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School
Mary Margaret Frank, who spent more than two decades in the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, has been named the dean of UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, effective August 15. Frank holds both a master’s degree and a doctorate from Kenan-Flagler. “It is an honor to return to UNC Kenan-Flagler, where I felt valued […]
Top Stories of 2022: UNC Business School Experiences Expansion, Leadership Changes and A Lawsuit
To reflect on the year, Chapelboro.com is re-publishing some of the top stories that impacted and defined our community’s experience in 2022. These stories and topics affected Chapel Hill, Carrboro and the rest of our region. Among UNC’s nationally-renowned programs, the Kenan-Flagler Business School continues to build its reputation as one of the best in […]
UNC Business School Dean Announces Resignation, Effective Monday
Doug Shackelford, the dean of the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC, announced Friday he is resigning from the role. Shackelford made the announcement over a brief Zoom message shared to the school, saying he will step down effective Monday. The dean and UNC alumnus described that he was on vacation with his family and is […]
UNC Leaders React to Apple's Research Triangle Development Announcement
North Carolina received major news on Monday when the tech giant Apple announced it will spend $1 billion on a new campus in the Research Triangle Park. The development comes as part of an effort by Apple to increase investment as the U.S. begins rebuilding from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a statement from the […]
›