NEWARK — The University of Delaware has received a $71.5 million gift from Siegfried Group founder and executive Robert Siegfried, Jr. and his wife, paving the way for a new academic building to be built on the campus while expanding the university’s Lerner College of Business and Economics.
UD officials confirmed on Monday that the donation is the largest single donation received from a single person or family in the university’s 282-year history.
President Dennis Assanis reportedly met Siegfried and his wife, Kathleen Marie (Horgan) Siegfried, in his early days as UD’s president. Officials tell the Delaware Business Times the three discussed “the values of entrepreneurship, leadership and ways to make a difference for UD and its students.”
“This is a transformative moment for the University of Delaware and our Lerner College of Business and Economics,” Assanis said in a statement. “The Siegfrieds’ generosity will significantly advance Lerner’s critical mission of preparing the next generation of leaders, change-makers and entrepreneurs to make an impact in the rapidly evolving world of business and economics.”
The notable contribution will help fund the construction of Lerner College’s Siegfried Hall, which would be a state-of-the-art learning space with research and teaching labs as well as a student-run cafe and an auditorium.
This building will also be the host for a new Siegfried Institute for Leadership and Free Enterprise, an “idea lab” that will study “the critical role basic principles of limited government, rule of law, and free enterprise play in supporting individual freedom and leadership.”
UD plans to commission the design process for the new hall this spring, with the goal of breaking ground in the next four years. The location of the new academic building has yet to be determined.
The Siegfrieds are both Blue Hens and have made several donations to their alma mater in the past, starting with a original gift of $25 when Kathy Siegfried graduated in 1985. The couple had donated more than $6 million to the Lerner College, Horn Entrepreneurship and the Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship.
In particular, the Siegfrieds philanthropy created the Siegfried Youth Leadership Initiative, a unique leadership development program designed for Delaware students in grades 8 through 12, and the Siegfried Fellows program, a highly selective, cohort-based, 10-month immersive program for undergraduate student leaders.
Rob Siegfried is the founder of The Siegfried Group, LLP, a Wilmington-based advisory and talent delivery firm that has roughly 1,300 employees in 18 offices across the country. In Wilmington, the company had 20 accountants, according to Delaware Business Times records.
“My time at UD … helped to make me who I am today,” Rob Siegfried said in a prepared statement. “To be able to share our success with the business students of tomorrow is an incredible honor. Kathy and I, and our firm, are thrilled to invest in the world-class students, faculty, staff and campus of the Lerner College and the University of Delaware.”
UD’s Lerner College of Business has 4,200 students enrolled, including 3,400 undergraduates as well as 800 graduate students.
