UH benefits from alum's gift of $25M

Plenty of wealthy residents of Hawaii have money to give -- but plenty of them do not opt to give away as much as $25 million to a local university.

Jay H. Shidler, founder and managing partner of the Shidler Group, did just that.

The nationally acknowledged expert in real estate investment and finance in August offered $25 million to his alma mater, the University of Hawaii College of Business Administration, now named the Shidler College of Business.

It is, to date, the largest single donation made through the University of Hawaii Foundation on behalf of students and faculty.

Shidler, 60, graduated from the college in 1968 and served three years on the UH Foundation's board of trustees in the mid-1990s.

He was by no means a newcomer to philanthropy. The Shidler Family Foundation has supported the University of Hawaii system since 1989 with $174,164 in gifts to support astronomy, research, the business school and student activities, as well as an initial gift to establish the Academy of Creative Media.

His reasons for giving away money: "As a University of Hawaii and College of Business Administration alumnus, I am proud to support the college in a way that will help transform it into the top rank of public business schools in our country. For me, Hawaii is not only a special place in which to do business, but also a very viable place from which to conduct more geographically wide-ranging businesses. Hawaii can increase its role in national and international commerce to a greater degree than many might imagine."

Since forming the Shidler Group in 1972, Shidler has been directly involved in the acquisition and management of more than 2,000 properties in 40 U.S. states and Canada, as well as founding three publicly traded real estate investment trusts.

The college will be able to provide more scholarships, attract new faculty to endowed positions and create a daytime master of business administration program.