A $10 million gift from information technology entrepreneur Richard Forsythe ‘61 and his wife Sandra will ensure that the Farmer School of Business can continue to offer its students the latest technology and other leading-edge resources.
The gift will equip a library and student technology center in the Farmer School’s new building, now under construction. Part of the gift will also support a student commons area. Both spaces will be named for the donors.
“It is absolutely essential that our students and faculty remain highly connected to the world of ideas, global commerce, and innovation,” said Farmer School Dean Roger L. Jenkins. “Rick and Sandy understand the crucial role of information technology in today’s business education, and this gift will give us the best possible electronic tools, as well as collateral print materials.”
“For Sandy and me, the goal was to help students make important connections—technological and interpersonal,” explained Rick Forsythe. “Technology is a priority for us, and we believe that the new technology center will truly connect our students to the world. The student commons will give students and faculty a place that promotes personal interaction.”
Forsythe, who graduated from Miami in 1961 with a B.S. in Economics, credits his broad-based undergraduate education and the contacts he made at a university career day with helping him garner a position with IBM upon graduation. Ten years later, Forsythe and partner Jim McArthur founded a company which later became Forsythe Technology. The company now employs more than 700 professionals working from 45 offices in the US and Canada, who offer best of breed technology equipment and technology consulting services.
Sandy Forsythe attended DePaul University and worked as a flight attendant for American Airlines for 14 years. She is now involved with several organizations for the visually impaired. She is a trustee of the Hadley School for the Blind, a member of the board of the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and a co-chair of the Wilmer Advisory Council of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital System in Baltimore.
“Rick and Sandy’s tremendous loyalty to Miami, exemplified by their generous gift, will enable future generations of students to acquire knowledge and use that knowledge to create opportunities,” said Miami University President David Hodge.
