WashU’s Olin Business School received a $10 million donation from alumnus Jerry Kent, BSBA ‘78, MBA ‘79, and his wife, Judy Kent, to strengthen its Business of Health program and its leadership, the University announced in late August.

The gift will be used to create an endowed deanship and to expand the Business of Health Initiative, which explores how business principles drive innovation in the healthcare industry.

“Annual income from the deanship endowment will provide a permanent revenue stream for Olin’s leaders to attract top talent, respond to emerging opportunities, and push the boundaries of excellence in business education,” Sara Savat, a senior news director for business and social sciences, wrote in a University press release.

In the first year of the program, Olin has already hired three new faculty members and is looking to use its new endowed deanship and the Business of Health Catalyst Fund to continue hiring both teaching and administrative faculty.

“If you’re going to hire faculty effectively, you have to be enormously strategic and opportunistic … so it’s nice to have flexible money and take advantage of that,” Mike Mazzeo, Dean of Olin and Knight Family Professor, said.

According to Patrick Aguilar, the Managing Director of Health at Olin, the expansion of the Business of Health program will help increase student and alumni involvement.

“That gift gives us bandwidth to think creatively, to experiment on ways to engage students, alumni, and community members, and to be innovative in the way that we develop content and develop experiences for the members of the Olin community,” Aguilar said.

So far, the gift has enabled Olin to create a new concentration in the Business of Health program at the undergraduate level, and add many new courses in both the undergraduate and graduate schools, Mazzeo said.

The program consists of a variety of courses, both experiential and classroom-oriented, designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills to make an impact across the healthcare industry.

“This year, we’ve revised all of those courses and created new ones, and we cover all the parts of the healthcare industry that allow somebody to understand how they might make an impact. We also created a particular section of our practicum course through the Center for Experiential Learning that allows students interested in health to get focused, real-world experience with dedicated mentorship,” Aguilar said.

An element of the program’s experiential learning is accomplished through strengthening connections to other WashU schools, such as the School of Medicine and the School of Public Health.

“We want our gift to be a catalyst to accelerate and elevate Olin’s ability to make this program a real leader among its peers. Our gift can help leverage WashU’s top-tier medical school and the launch of the School of Public Health to improve healthcare,” Jerry Kent said in the press release.

Mazzeo hopes this gift will allow for partnerships across the University.

Aguilar said he wishes to see an increasing connection between Olin’s undergraduate and graduate programs, and WashU’s School of Medicine. 

“My hope is that we start to see business students and medical students attending co-curricular events, learning together, developing a shared understanding of how to advance the work that each is interested in doing, and that kind of conversation is what will be critical in the years ahead,” Aguilar said.

The future of the Business of Health program is largely centered around Mazzeo’s strategic five-year plan for Olin Business School, titled, “All Together Now.”

“The Kents’ gift is a catalyst … and one that is expendable support, where we can spend the money immediately in order to accelerate the growth of the initiative,” Mazzeo said.

While the Business of Health program is still young, there are many ideas on the horizon and much to look forward to. Mazzeo expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Kents and all other supporters of Olin.

“The supporters we have at WashU…people like the Kents and many others who are supporting what we’re trying to do: that’s what makes WashU amazing.”