Allen & Kelli Questrom Give $50 Million For Questrom School of Business at Boston University

BOSTON, March 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston University's School of Management was today renamed the Questrom School of Business, the result of an unprecedented $50 million gift to the University from alumnus and longtime retail industry leader Allen Questrom and his wife, Kelli.  The Questroms' gift, the largest ever received by Boston University, will endow 10 faculty chairs and enable planning to establish a new graduate program facility.

Mr. Questrom, who graduated from the Boston University School of Management in 1964 and is a member of BU's Board of Trustees, is nationally recognized for his turnaround leadership of several notable department stores and specialty retailers, including JCPenney Company, Neiman Marcus, Barneys New York, and Federated Department Stores, which subsequent to Questrom's bringing Federated out of bankruptcy and leading the acquisition of rivals The Broadway Stores and the Macy Stores Corporation, later became known as Macy's, Inc.  His wife, Kelli, is a former fashion promoter and longtime civic volunteer whose diverse service of nearly 40 years has included working with cities' mayors and councils, advocating to solve the problems of AIDS, homelessness, women's preventative medicine, and sitting on boards in service of the arts and education.

"This is a transformative moment in the history of the School and the University," said BU President Dr. Robert A. Brown. "The gift will both propel the School on the path of increased impact and quality and will forever associate it with the name of one of the most successful and highly regarded corporate executives in America, and one of Boston University's most distinguished graduates."

Questrom says both he and his wife, Kelli, take great pride and pleasure in being able to pay forward the blessings of a combination of good luck and hard work that have enriched their lives, beginning with Questroms' education at Boston University - it was a BU faculty member teaching a course in retail management who helped to launch Questrom's interest and career in that industry.

"I would hope that students, as they go through school and into a career, will periodically reflect on their life, to pay mental homage to the people who helped them along the way and to recognize as they 'make good' that they have a responsibility to 'do good,' to pay it forward by helping the next generation," said Questrom.  "When one looks at where investment can do the most good," Questrom says, "you have to think of innovation in our schools because second only to the positive influence of family values, the route to earned success is to be well educated."

Kenneth Freeman, whose Allen Questrom deanship and professorship were endowed by an earlier gift from the Questroms, calls the gift transformational and one that will enable the School to attract outstanding faculty widely recognized for excellence in research and teaching.  He says the donation also provides seed funding for the School to begin planning for the addition of new classroom space that would connect to its existing building. Since moving into its current home in 1996, the School has grown significantly. The current facility, which was originally designed to accommodate 1,700 students, now welcomes more than 3,500 undergraduate and graduate students.

"Allen Questrom is a retailing industry icon, having transformed many companies during his career while demonstrating the highest integrity, exceptional leadership, and tireless service in support of others," said Freeman.  "With the Questroms' generous support, we will be able to accelerate our transformation and better prepare the next generation of bold leaders to make a positive difference in the world."

The Questroms' gift comes 2½ years after BU announced its first-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign with a target of $1 billion. BU is the first university to set a $1 billion goal for a first campaign. Today's $50 million pledge brings the campaign total to $823 million with the University on track to meet its overall goal well before its scheduled completion date in 2017.

Questrom spent most of his career in retailing with Federated Department Stores, Inc., rising from management trainee in 1964 to become corporate executive vice president in 1987. After leaving Federated in 1988 following its hostile takeover by a Canadian real estate mogul to steer the turnaround of Neiman Marcus, he returned to the bankrupt Federated in 1990 as chairman and CEO. He brought the company out of Chapter 11 in 1993, and in 1995 engineered the acquisition of rivals Broadway Department Stores and the R. H. Macy Company, Inc. He retired from the restored Federated in 1997, and returned to retailing a year later as chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Barneys New York, Inc., bringing the fashion emporium out of bankruptcy in 1999, and creating a new COOP division of Barneys.  From September 2000 to 2005 as the first 'outsider' to lead the company in its nearly 100-year history, he served as chairman and chief executive officer of the JCPenney Company, leading a successful turnaround of the corporation's department store, catalog, and internet businesses.

Questrom has served since 2006 as a Senior Advisor of Lee Equity Partners. He is a Director of the Glazer Family of Companies and is on the Board of the Men's Wearhouse, Inc., the At Home retail chain, and the Board of Advisors of The Robin Report, which provides insight into consumer product industries. He is a former Director of Foot Locker, Inc., Sotheby's Holdings, Inc., and of Walmart. Questrom is a Trustee of Boston University, his alma mater, where the Allen & Kelli Questrom Foundation endowed in 2007 the chairs of the Dean of the Boston University School of Management and two professorships, and a former Trustee of the Aspen Music Festival & School, where the Questroms underwrite student scholarships.  Questrom and his wife, Kelli, as proponents of the principles of liberty, individual opportunity, and free enterprise, are members of the National Council of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI), one of the nation's most highly regarded problem-solving think tanks.

Retiring from her fashion promotion career in 1986 to civic life following a blessedly early diagnosis of breast cancer, Kelli Questrom became an advocate for preventative medicine, speaking by invitation on Capitol Hill. In the mid-80's, she co-founded the Greater Los Angeles Partnership for the Homeless, resulting in the establishment of L.A.'s Downtown Women's Center, and served in the '90's on the first national Board of Directors of Design Industries Foundation Fighting Aids (DIFFA). Currently Kelli has served as a Trustee for seven years of the Aspen Art Museum, and for 12 years of the Dallas Museum of Art where the Allen & Kelli Questrom Foundation has endowed the two Museums' educational programming, as well as the free docented tours program for public and charter school students at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, of which Questrom in the '90's was a Trustee, and the Questroms currently are members of the National Council. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, a nationally recognized dance company that performs, produces, and teaches classical ballet, Folkloric and African dance forms.

Boston University Questrom School of Business prepares and empowers leaders and innovators to anticipate change, harness it, and to positively affect society. The Questrom School and its faculty focus on bridging research and practice in providing students with core business skills, insight and relevant experiences to master the forces transforming the global economy.  These include: digital technology, social enterprise and sustainability, and health and life sciences. The Questrom School of Business offers a broad array of undergraduate, graduate, part-time, executive, and doctoral programs.

Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized institution of higher education and research.  With more than 33,000 students, it is the fourth-largest independent university in the United States.  BU consists of 17 schools and colleges, along with a number of multi-disciplinary centers and institutes integral to the University's research and teaching mission.  In 2012, BU joined the Association of American Universities (AAU), a consortium of 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada.

NOTE: The Allen & Kelli Questrom Foundation does not entertain unsolicited grant requests.  Inquiries regarding the gift by the Allen & Kelli Questrom Foundation to Boston University's Questrom School of Business may be addressed to Strategic Philanthropy, Ltd., 1700 W. Irving Park Road, Suite 203, Chicago, Illinois 60613.  T:  773-244-5185 or [email protected]

SOURCE Boston University

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