McCombs TODAY

Beverly and Will O’Hara have pledged $16 million to the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin to help meet a wide-range of goals, including strengthening the top-ranked Accounting Department and the nationally renowned Business Honors Program.

The donation is the largest individual gift to the school since Red McCombs donated $50 million in 2000.

“This is an extraordinary gift,” said University of Texas at Austin President William Powers Jr. “It is extremely generous and far-sighted.”

Will O’Hara earned his bachelor of business administration degree from the university in 1968 and is a part-time lecturer in the Accounting Department. Beverly is a devoted Longhorn supporter who said she “bleeds orange.” The O’Haras have had successful careers in retail and financial services.

The gift will provide for more fellowships for doctoral-level research in accounting, scholarships for the Business Honors Program and help fund new learning programs. The gift will also endow a faculty chair in a department yet to be named.

“Higher education is expensive, and there are so many young people with a lot of potential who simply cannot afford it,” Beverly O’Hara said. “When you give something back to the university, you give someone the opportunity to fulfill their dreams.”

As an alumnus and a faculty member, Will O’Hara has a strong appreciation for teachers. He has a particular desire to support Ph.D. students, especially in accounting, because of how valuable they are to the school’s future. The Accounting Department is ranked number one in the nation by U.S News & World Report.

“McCombs has a great reputation,” he said, “but in order to maintain it, we need to continue to send stellar Ph.D. graduates into the world with their McCombs credentials.”

Students in the Business Honors Program are typically ranked in the top 2 percent of their high school classes, have a Scholastic Aptitude Test score higher than 1450 and are leaders in their schools and communities. However, in recent years, this prestigious program has faced challenges in recruiting top students because of financial constraints.

“The Business Honors Program competes with top schools like Harvard, Stanford or Pennsylvania for the very best students,” said McCombs School Dean Thomas Gilligan. “However, those institutions are able to offer large financial aid packages, especially to minority students or to those who come from households with modest incomes. This gift will go a long way to help Texas stay competitive.”

The O’Hara gift will also help create experiential learning programs. This is one of Gilligan’s priorities for the school moving forward.

“Immersing students in hands-on learning allows for a more well-rounded educational experience,” Gilligan said. “For example, if students travel abroad to learn about business in China, the overall experience can provide a broader base of knowledge, compared to a class lecture on China alone. Our students must graduate with an understanding of the global economy to be successful.”

The O’Haras said they are thrilled to offer future generations access to higher education. “The goal is not to live forever. The goal is to create something that does,” Beverly O’Hara said.

Read story in the Austin American-Statesman.