Business School Receives Record $55 Million Donation

Business School Becomes David A. Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon

Wall Street investor David A. Tepper and his wife, Marlene, have donated a record $55 million to the Graduate School of Industrial Administration, the largest donation to Carnegie Mellon in its 104-year history and the second-largest "naming gift" made to a business school in the United States. In recognition of this transformational gift, the school, which pioneered an analytical approach to management, will become the David A. Tepper School of Business.

Tepper, 46, a Pittsburgh native, is president and founder of Appaloosa Management, a $3 billion hedge fund investment firm based in Chatham, N.J. He earned a master of science in industrial administration from Carnegie Mellon in 1982 before embarking on a successful career in business and finance.

"The outstanding education I received at Carnegie Mellon gave me the ability to analyze investment options in such a unique way that I am still capitalizing on what I learned there to this day," said Tepper. "I owe a lot to my former professor, Dean Ken Dunn, and the rest of the faculty. This gift is an investment in the legacy the school has already built and a vote of confidence in the future of the Tepper School of Business."

"We are extremely grateful to David and Marlene for their generosity," said President Jared L. Cohon. "This gift will help propel the university and the business school to even greater success and global leadership. David is of one of our outstanding alumni, and it is an honor to have him recognize the university in this extraordinary way."

Kenneth B. Dunn, dean of the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon, added, "From the business school's inception, Carnegie Mellon's approach has provided a first-of-its-kind academic experience at the frontier of management education. There is an energy here brought about by new ideas, collaboration and intensity that you can't find other places. The Teppers' donation provides a transformational opportunity for the school to remain at the intersection of business and technology and to anticipate and respond to the dynamic needs of the global marketplace.

"We know students are best prepared for success in business if they develop strong analytical decision-making skills, and David Tepper is a perfect example of the kind of achiever we seek to educate at Carnegie Mellon," said Dunn. "We recognize that the needs of business have shifted, and today's business schools need to respond to expectations that are higher than ever before. We always have focused on preparing executives for a changing marketplace by immersing them in interdisciplinary environments that reflect emerging industries and functions. As we pursue new ways to prepare students to lead at the convergence of global business and technological change, this gift allows us to implement our vision for the future of business education on a more aggressive timeline."

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