Audio clip
Russ Huesman
Two leaders in the world of international finance will make a big gift today to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
The $2 million contribution will benefit both the College of Business and the UTC Mocs football program.
Renee Haugerud and John H. Murphy are giving $1.5 million to establish the Renee Haugerud and John H. Murphy Global Finance Center at the business school. Another $500,000 is being given to university’s football program.
“The Haugerud-Murphy center will give students the opportunity to see how finance is practiced on the world’s stage,” said Dr. Richard Casavant, dean of the College of Business. “To us, this is a really big deal. It’s going to be very transformative for our school.”
The gift will formally be accepted today at an invitation-only ceremony at 4 p.m.
Both Ms. Haugerud and Mr. Murphy have long resumes in world of finance, making millions by running high-yield hedge funds. The company run by the couple, Galtere Ltd., is said to have yields that have topped 18 percent, according to Barron’s magazine.
Ms. Haugerud is the managing principal and chief investment officer for the fund and Mr. Murphy is chief development officer. Mr. Murphy is a UTC alumnus, and the couple owns a home on Lookout Mountain, Tenn.
Dr. Casavant said the money will be used to add technology and recruit new staff to the business school’s finance wing.
Roughly 1,900 students from all business majors at the undergraduate and graduate levels will have an opportunity to use the global financial center, UTC spokesman Chuck Cantrell said.
“This center has the ability to do what the SIM Center did for the engineering program,” Mr. Cantrell said. “It’s meant to be a unique draw for faculty and students.”
Ms. Haugerud, who made her fortune by investing in such unique ventures as the export and domestic sunflower markets, has indicated to school officials that the new center should work to educate more women in the finance industry.
“Certainly, both genders will be more than welcome, but as one of the few, if only, women in her field, Ms. Haugerud feels like the world of finance could use less testosterone,” Dr. Casavant said. “The center will offer women the foundation for a successful career in finance and business and ultimately, cultivate essential life skills.”
FOOTBALL, TOO
Mr. Murphy was a walk-on for the UTC football team as a long-snapper and played with new Mocs coach Russ Huesman, as well as offensive line coach Russ Ehrenfeld.
After moving back to the area last year, Mr. Murphy attended numerous practices in the spring and fall and had several conversations with former coach Rodney Allison about upgrades that needed to be done to help the program.
Mr. Murphy purchased the Mocs’ blue jerseys that the team wore for the first time last season against Jacksonville State University.
UTC Athletic Director Rick Hart said plans for the donation, called a restricted gift because it only supports one program rather than all UTC sports, have not been finalized, but they could include an upgrade to Scrappy Moore Field, the Mocs’ practice facility.
“We’ve got a needs list and I’m sure this money will go toward addressing those needs,” Mr. Hart said.
The gift will not, Mr. Hart said, be used to help alleviate the budget cuts of at least $600,000 that the athletic department is facing.
“This money will be used in addition to the football budget; it is not replacing anything,” he said.
Adam Crisp covers education issues for the Times Free Press. He joined the paper's staff in 2007 and initially covered crime, public safety, courts and general assignment topics. Prior to Chattanooga, Crisp was a crime reporter at the Savannah Morning News and has been a reporter and editor at community newspapers in southeast Georgia. In college, he led his student paper to a first-place general excellence award from the Georgia College Press Association. He earned ...
John Frierson is in his fifth year at the Times Free Press and fifth year covering University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletics. The bulk of his time is spent covering Mocs football, but he also writes about women’s basketball and the big-picture issues and news involving the athletic department. A native of Athens, Ga., John grew up a few hundred yards from the University of Georgia campus. Instead of becoming a Bulldog he attended Ole ...
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