Catholic University Receives $47 Million for Business School, Academic Programs

School to be name the Tim and Steph School of Business and Economics

Tim and Steph Busch

The Catholic University of America announced today that it has received six commitments totaling $47 million for the operational needs of the School of Business and Economics and other University academic programs. The lead gift of $15 million from the Busch Family Foundation is the largest financial commitment the University has received to date.

“Today marks a historic day for Catholic University, in which it is propelled forward in its mission to serve both Church and nation through the incredible generosity of several benefactors,” said Cardinal Seán O’Malley, archbishop of Boston and chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees.

The gift from the Busch Family Foundation, established by Tim Busch and his wife, Steph, will be allocated to the renovation of Maloney Hall, where the business and economics school will be relocated. Busch is founder and CEO of Pacific Hospitality Group and The Busch Firm, both based in Irvine, Calif., among other companies and charitable organizations. He is also co-founder and chairman of the board of The Napa Institute, which has co-sponsored two conferences with the School of Business and Economics. He serves as the chairman of the school’s Board of Visitors and will conclude his 12-year tenure on the University’s Board of Trustees this year.

The school will be renamed the Tim and Steph Busch School of Business and Economics in recognition of their support for the University’s approach to thought-leading business education informed by the principles of Catholic Social Teaching.

“We are committed to supporting Catholic University's vision for business education which integrates principled entrepreneurship and Catholic Social Teaching in a distinctive way,” said Tim Busch. “Students at the school of business and economics learn how businesses can be highly profitable and innovative, while also meeting the needs of communities and promoting human flourishing."

“As the University’s largest benefactors to date, Tim and Steph Busch have demonstrated unparalleled support for the unique approach of our business school,” said President John Garvey. “Beyond this, they have attracted other major supporters whose gifts have nourished the school’s success. We are immensely grateful for their partnership and all that they have done to advance the University.”

A small group of leadership donors also made the following financial commitments to the University: $10 million from the Arthur and Carlyse Ciocca Charitable Foundation, which includes the establishment of the Arthur and Carlyse Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship; $10 million from the Charles Koch Foundation, which supports hundreds of colleges and universities across the country and helps individual students and faculty members pursue scholarship related to societal well-being and free societies; $5 million from Joe Della Ratta (Class of 1953), founder and owner of Della Ratta, Inc. and current benefactor of the Centesimus Annus Della Ratta Family Endowed Professorship; $5 million from an anonymous donor; and $2 million from the Blanford Charitable Gift Fund through the recommendation of Larry Blanford, a member of the school’s board of visitors, and his wife, Lynn.

These gifts will support the Maloney Hall renovation, academic programs in the business and economics school, and the new Institute for Human Ecology, which will take up Pope Francis’s call in Laudato Si’ to systematically study the relationships of human beings to one another and the world around them.

Media Contact: Elise Italiano, executive director of university communications, 202-319-5600 or italiano@cua.edu.

Posted 16 hours ago by CUA School of Business and Economics