State Farm Hall of Business

Surprised isn’t the word. The leadership team was stunned because it happened so fast. It was 1999 when acting Dean Dixie Mills got the call from Susan Kern, vice president of University Advancement, telling her that State Farm Insurance Companies had approved a $9 million funding request, the largest gift ever received by the University. Mills pulled her team together to share the news.

“We were in a sense stunned because it had happened fairly quickly and we were so happy,” she said, of the gift. Faculty scattered across campus were brought together for an announcement in the Williams Hall faculty lounge. “It was a great day for the college,” she said.

State Farm had previously funded programs, minority scholarships, and technology. The Katie School of Insurance and Financial Services also grew with the support of Jay Edmonson, a retired State Farm executive who served on the Katie School Advisory Board. The college’s relationship with State Farm continued strengthening, as President David Strand and Kern worked with Jack North, a State Farm senior executive vice president and former member of the College of Business Advisory Council. State Farm asked the University to prioritize its capital projects and COB was at the top of the list.

Ed Rust, left, and John Maitland were among those celebrating the rededication of the State Farm Hall of Business.

The largest private gift ever received by the University helped Illinois State leverage construction funds for the $30 million project. Mills credits the leadership of former State Sen. John Maitland with making that happen when four months later, the state legislature allocated enough funds to complete the four-story brick building on the south end of the Quad, which opened in 2005.

Until recently State Farm’s policy wouldn’t allow naming the building for the company. When that restriction changed, the COB was renamed the State Farm Hall of Business at a ceremony on March 31, 2011. At that event State Farm Chairman and CEO Ed Rust Jr. expressed appreciation for the strong connection between the University, the college, and State Farm.

“The rededication of this building is more than a public recognition of the partnership between State Farm and Illinois State and its business school,” he said. “It’s a reaffirmation of that partnership, one that we affirm with pride and with great, great appreciation. It’s not something any of us take for granted,” he said. “It goes well beyond the thousands of ISU graduates who are State Farm employees or agents, of the thousands more ISU graduates over its history who have laid the foundation for the success we enjoy today.”

Rust lauded the college for its growing reputation among the nation’s best business schools and said the Katie School is recognized as one of the country’s top insurance programs. He also said students who study actuarial science, accounting, risk management, leadership, and insurance will be actively recruited by State Farm.

More than 4,000 alumni work for State farm, many in leadership roles, said ISU President Al Bowman. For four out of the last five years, the college has been listed as one of the best 100 undergraduate business schools in the country by Bloomberg Business Week.

Bowman said State Farm plays a significant role in that success, and in the education and mentoring of students. “State Farm Hall of Business has proven to be one of the University’s best recruiting venues for faculty, staff, and students.”

Dean Scott Johnson said the naming of the college honors State Farm’s commitment to the University. The State Farm Companies Foundation has given more than $24 million to ISU, with more than half going toward the college’s programs.

“When a corporate partner steps up and makes a significant investment, it is a signal that it values the programs and the important work being done,” he said. “The State Farm Hall of Business is an ideal professional learning environment that raises expectations for students and faculty. Our goal is to continue to educate students who will be skilled, responsible business leaders fully prepared to accept the challenges of a dynamic global economy.”

In May the State Farm Companies Foundation announced a $1.8 million gift to support all six colleges, athletics, and minority recruitment initiatives over a two-year period. The College of Business will use its $432,000 to focus on The Katie School, which prepares students for careers in risk management and insurance professions.