American Financial Group, Inc. & Family of Carl H. Lindner Jr. Give $11 Million for New University of Cincinnati College of B...
October 05 2016 - 2:04PM
Business Wire
Transformative gift is largest ever for the Lindner College of
Business
American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: AFG) and the University of
Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of Business announced today that
AFG and the family of Carl H. Lindner Jr. will make a gift of $11
million to help create a new 225,000-square-foot building for the
Lindner College of Business, which is expected to be completed by
fall 2019. This gift is the largest ever in the 110-year history of
the University of Cincinnati’s business school.
The Lindner family, including Edyth Lindner, wife of the late
Carl H. Lindner Jr., Carl III and Martha Lindner, S. Craig and
Frances Lindner, and Keith and Courtney Lindner, generously
contributed $6 million to the project and is considering naming
opportunities around the new building and complex. The Lindner
family hopes the gift will inspire others to give back to the
college while honoring the legacy of their beloved husband and
father, Carl H. Lindner Jr.
Carl H. Lindner Jr. was a celebrated businessman, entrepreneur
and philanthropist. With his brothers, he founded United Dairy
Farmers. Carl founded American Financial Group, Inc. and served as
CEO. He also was controlling owner and CEO of the Cincinnati
Reds.
He not only left an incredible legacy in Cincinnati but also at
the University of Cincinnati, where the Carl H. Lindner Jr. College
of Business and the Lindner Honors-PLUS Program bear his name. His
vision was to attract the best and brightest students to Greater
Cincinnati by offering a first-class education. He was once-quoted
saying, “My dream is to put UC’s business college on the map as one
of the finest in the nation.”
The Lindner Center of HOPE, Richard E. Lindner Varsity Village,
Richard E. Lindner Athletic Center and Carl H. Lindner III Center
for Insurance and Risk Management at UC all bear the family
name.
“My family gives this gift out of love for our father, Carl H.
Lindner Jr., the trajectory of the University of Cincinnati, and
our longstanding relationship with UC. We value the opportunity to
work with students and graduates from UC, and have many AFG and
Great American Insurance Group employees who are UC alumni,” said
Carl H. Lindner III, Co-CEO of AFG, BBA ‘75. (Mr. Lindner is also a
past Trustee and the recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Commercial
Science degree from the Lindner College of Business.)
“We are excited about the tremendous success of the Carl H.
Lindner Jr. College of Business and are proud to support
fundraising efforts for the innovative new building that continues
our father’s legacy. As AFG’s Co-CEOs, it is important to me and
Carl to help to sustain strong communities where we live and work.
We are pleased that AFG’s gift will help UC to continue to advance
this shared goal,” said S. Craig Lindner, Co-CEO of AFG, BBA ’77.
(Mr. Lindner is also the recipient of an Honorary Doctor of
Commercial Science degree from the Lindner College of
Business.)
In early August, the university released preliminary renderings
of the new building for the Lindner College of Business, designed
by internationally renowned Henning Larsen Architects with
Cincinnati-based KZF Design as the architect of record. Early
designs feature a four-story building with glass facades, a grand
atrium and lobby, open workspaces, a courtyard, a large café,
lecture spaces, a teaching lab and more. The new Lindner College of
Business building is expected to cost about $120 million. In recent
years, the Lindner College of Business has received numerous
national accolades and is on a path toward preeminence. Enrollment
in undergraduate and graduate business degrees have both increased,
up 50 percent and 200 percent, respectively, since 2010.
“Carl H. Lindner Jr. and his family have been instrumental in
positioning our business school as one of the best in the nation,
and with this transformational gift, they are ensuring our rise to
preeminence with a best-in-class campus to educate the world’s next
business leaders for generations to come,” said David Szymanski,
Dean of the Lindner College of Business. “Our innovative and
inspirational facility will be leading edge and will meaningfully
advance the college and the university by creating new learning
possibilities and solution-driven outcomes for students, faculty,
alumni, and corporate and community partners. We are grateful for
the Lindner family’s leadership support and look forward to
continuing the extraordinary legacy of our college’s namesake.”
“The Lindner family has made an unparalleled impact on the
University of Cincinnati,” said UC Interim President Beverly J.
Davenport. “From Carl H. Lindner Jr.’s visionary support of the
Lindner College of Business to the family’s founding of the Lindner
Center of HOPE to their game-changing contributions to Bearcats
athletics, UC is truly grateful for our prized partnership with the
Lindner family. The new home for our Lindner College of Business
will be an exemplar of how 21st century learning spaces can
transform the educational experience for our students and symbolize
the rise to international prominence of both the University of
Cincinnati and the Lindner College of Business. It is destined to
become a global model for premier business schools focused on
student-centered learning, innovation, collaboration and
interaction with industry experts.”
“With this incredibly generous gift, the Lindner Family and AFG
have issued a rallying cry for UC’s other partners to invest in the
new building project for the Lindner College of Business,” said UC
Foundation President Rodney Grabowski. “The new facility will
benefit the university and city for decades to come, serving as a
central hub for the intersection of business education and
practice.”
About American Financial Group, Inc.
American Financial Group is an insurance holding company, based
in Cincinnati, Ohio with assets over $50 billion. Through the
operations of Great American Insurance Group, AFG is engaged
primarily in property and casualty insurance, focusing on
specialized commercial products for businesses, and in the sale of
fixed and fixed-indexed annuities in the retail, financial
institutions and education markets. Great American Insurance
Group’s roots go back to 1872 with the founding of its flagship
company, Great American Insurance Company.
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American Financial Group, Inc.Diane P. WeidnerAsst. Vice
President - Investor and Media Relations513-369-5713orWebsites:www.AFGinc.comwww.GreatAmericanInsuranceGroup.com
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