Thanks to a $15 million gift that ties the record for the largest donation ever given to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, more business students than ever will have a chance to earn scholarship funding to cover their Tuck MBA. The donation, provided by Paul Raether (T’73 and TP’03) and his family, will substantially improve Tuck’s ability to recruit top-tier students and will have a significant impact on helping students pay for their schooling.
“This gift will have a tremendous impact on one of Tuck’s most important strategic priorities: enrolling incoming students who aspire to wise leadership, and who will contribute to and thrive in Tuck’s distinctly immersive learning community,” Luke Anthony Peña, Tuck executive director of admissions and financial aid, said of the gift in a press release.
Supporting Tuck has been a family affair for the Raethers for some time. Paul Raether, his wife, Wendy, and their three daughters and sons-in-law—including alumni Alexa Raether Maddock (T’03) and Fernando Maddock, Jr. (T’03)—all have made prior philanthropic contributions to the school to support scholarships, faculty endowments, and facilities. Some of the gifts included donating to the Tuck Annual Giving program as well as providing support to the Next Step: Transition to Business program for military veterans and elite athletes.
“Tuck has been a wonderful institution for us and for my daughter and son-in-law, so we are motivated to actively support it,” Paul Raether said at the time of this most recent gift. “We want Tuck to attract the best and the brightest students, and hopefully, this gift will help.”
This most recent gift is the cherry on top of a successful year for scholarship fundraising at Tuck. In spring 2017, Tuck leaders set out on a mission to create more scholarships for Tuck students. “When Tuck closed the books on its fiscal year in June 2017, the market value of Tuck’s scholarship endowment was $87.6 million. By calendar year-end, an additional $20 million had been raised for scholarships,” read a release from the school.
In a separate news story from the university, Dean Matthew Slaughter acknowledged the scholarship donations. “I am humbled by the wonderful generosity our alumni have shown for Tuck and energized by the opportunities these scholarship funds open for the most deserving students, who will then enrich our community that much more,” he said. “I can’t thank our alumni enough.”
