An artist rendering of the proposed new building for the CLU School of Management from 2018. Funding for the building has been diverted.
In the recent demonstration of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted philanthropy in the area, California Lutheran University announced on Jan. 20 that it had made an important gift to its School of Management in support of programs and grants for entrepreneurship Initiative is used.
CLU president Lori Varlotta said Steve Dorfman, a retired technology and aerospace manager who gave the founding gift for a business school building, agreed to uphold his original pledge of $ 6 million redirect the new programs. The gift was announced in 2018 and is the largest in the university’s history.
An initial $ 4.8 million will be allocated, including $ 1.2 million for business student scholarships at the private Thousand Oaks University. The remaining US $ 3.6 million will be used to set up a Steven D. Dorfman Professorship in Innovation and Entrepreneurship to attract CLU alumni or student investments in start-ups and the New Venture competition of the University support.
The CLU Entrepreneurship Center will be renamed Dorfman and Mike Panesis, who currently lead the program and become the first Dorfman professor.
“The study of entrepreneurship is still in its infancy,” said Panesis in a telephone interview. “That was the right thing at the right time.”
The grant will take effect immediately, although Panesis said it will take time to set up an advisory board to guide the investment.
