INSEAD, which calls itself the “business school for the world,” will soon be pouring €10 million into its entrepreneurship offerings thanks to a generous alumni gift, the school announced earlier this week. The benefactor’s identity was withheld, but the amount makes it the single largest gift received from an individual donor and alumnus in the school’s history.
“On behalf of the entire INSEAD community, I would like to extend my gratitude to our donor for his exceptional financial support and confidence in INSEAD,” Dean Ilian Mihov said in a statement. “This generous gift will transform the entrepreneurial ecosystem at INSEAD as well as inspire and empower faculty, entrepreneurs, students and alumni around the globe.”
Specifically, the school plans to use the funds to create several new academic positions and PhD scholarships to bolster entrepreneurship through strengthened research, expanded teaching and the cultivation of new talent.
“INSEAD changed my life for the better,” the anonymous donor said in a statement. “I want INSEAD to continue to excel in everything it does and to support it as an independent institution which needs donations from its alumni.” An entrepreneur himself, the donor called the decision of where to direct his investment a natural one. According to the school, the mystery alumni donor has long supported INSEAD—this latest gift bringing his total contributions to the school to more than €20 million.
INSEAD is riding high right now—having been named the No. 1 MBA program in the world both this year and last by the Financial Times. With campuses in France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, INSEAD offers its students the opportunity to study on three different continents and underscores this global education as one of its greatest strengths. Its accelerated MBA program—which students complete in a mere 10 months—also carries a much lower price tag than the two-year, full-time MBA programs more prevalent in the United States and requires less time out of the workforce.
The diversity and contributions of INSEAD’s alumni community are additional points of pride. The school prominently shares on its website that its alumni represent 170 countries and 159 nationalities. And this most recent alumni gift represents an ethos of giving back.
“I believe that our alumni play a crucial role in INSEAD’s next chapter and that it’s our responsibility to give back to the school to secure its success,” Andreas Jacobs, MBA’90D, chairman of the INSEAD Board of Directors and member of the Board of Jacobs Holding AG, said in a statement. “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank our donor for demonstrating his trust in the strategic direction that the board and our dean are taking the school.”
In addition to international recognition, a global learning opportunity for students, a diverse and committed alumni community and lower opportunity cost, INSEAD can hope that this latest gift will position it to excel with regard to entrepreneurship as well.
Learn more about INSEAD’s recent alumni gift to support entrepreneurship.
