A bright future for business

With a new name and a continued focus on excellence, students, faculty, and staff are excited about the next "chapter" for the Miami Herbert Business School.
Miami Herbert Business School students celebrate the naming announcement with Dean John Quelch

Junior Landon Coles said he would never have had the chance to attend the University of Miami without the generosity of others.

Therefore Coles, who is a Hammond Scholar and a legal studies major in the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School, truly understands the importance of donations to help fund a university. So Coles was elated to learn Tuesday that his school had just received a major donation from the Herbert family that also spurred a name change for the institution.

“As a scholarship recipient, I’m here as a result of the generous donations of so many people, so I can only imagine what this gift will do for so many others,” Coles said. “This gift is a seed of investment that is going to create so many opportunities for incoming students.”

Coles, along with many other students, faculty, and staff at the Miami Herbert Business School celebrated the naming announcement in the school’s Finker-Frenkel Family Promenade with orange and green cupcakes, balloons, and a guest appearance from Sebastian the Ibis. Donors Patti and Allan Herbert met as students at the business school and have been active with the University for more than 60 years, said President Julio Frenk.

“The University’s relationship with the Herberts has been continuous since they were students here,” Frenk said. “This gift represents a lifetime of loyalty.”

Friedman, Frenk, Quelch with Sebastian the Ibis
Josh Friedman, senior vice president for development and alumni engagement, President Julio Frenk and Dean John Quelch celebrate the Miami Herbert Business School announcement with Sebastian the Ibis.

The recent donation marked the first time in a decade that the University has named a school or building, Frenk said, and demonstrates the Herberts’ strong belief in philanthropy. The couple has committed more than $100 million to the University throughout their lives, including an $8 million naming gift to The Patti and Allan Herbert Wellness Center in 2008.

“It’s an expression of trust – not just in the current generation, but in the University as an institution into the future,” Frenk said of the donation. “This opens a new chapter for the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School.”

Frenk and Miami Herbert Business School Dean John Quelch hope that the announcement and celebration of the gift will spur other alumni to donate to the school.

Accounting lecturer Seth Levine was thrilled by the Herberts’ gift and said that the announcement made him think about donating in the future. Levine and his wife also met at the U, where they both graduated from the business school and became accountants, but later used their business knowledge to found a cigar company together. 

“This is going to give us more prestige and will hopefully spur future investments by other stakeholders,” Levine said. “Many of the other great business schools in the country are named, so this may move us up the ranks and create a lot more excitement from students who want to go to school here.”

Patricia Abril, a law and ethics professor as well as the vice dean of graduate education, said the “transformative” donation will elevate the school’s hard work and expand the school’s master’s in business administration program that is now 17 years old.

“I hope this will attract more graduate students by allowing us to offer more generous scholarships to make a business education more accessible,” she said.

Liliana Vespa, a junior studying management, said that she hoped the new name would generate more exposure for the school.

“I think this will attract attention from potential employers for students, which is good, but also to other professors who will want to work here,” Vespa said.

Louis Shaw, a junior studying finance, was studying for his midterm when he stopped to listen to the announcement and was impressed by the turnout of administrators and faculty. He said the gift shows that the school is focused on upgrading their offerings.

“It’s great to hear that alumni are so invested in the University and care about how students are performing today,” he said. “And the fact that all these individuals—alumni, faculty, administrators and even the president—are so committed to the business school justifies why students decide to study here and shows the school is improving.”