University of Texas
Rozanne and Billy Rosenthal at the base of the Tower at UT, shining brightly in burnt orange in their honor on Tuesday.
The Management Department in the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin has a new identity through the generosity of a Fort Worth couple.
The Rozanne and Billy Rosenthal Department of Management was made possible by a $25 million gift from Rozanne and Billy Rosenthal, two married Longhorns.
The university said that the department is the first in the business school to be named as a result of a gift.
A reception was held in the Rosenthals’ honor on Tuesday in Austin.
“This gift is a powerful example of what can happen when the values and sense of purpose of a family align with the mission of a department,” said Caroline Bartel, chair of the Rosenthal Department of Management, in a statement. “At the heart of what we do as a department is in the human part of business enterprise — how people motivate, influence and lead others, and how they make decisions and work together to strengthen the vitality and success of their companies. The Rosenthals’ gift will greatly amplify our ability to make such a difference.”
Billy Rosenthal graduated from UT with a bachelor’s in business administration in 1972. Rozanne Rosenthal earned her bachelor’s in 1974.
The school said the gift will enable the department to dramatically increase its efforts around research, teaching, students, faculty, and academic innovation.
The Rosenthal family’s business journey began in Fort Worth in 1935 when Ben H. Rosenthal, a Russian Jewish immigrant, rented a single meat locker, bought some beef in the nearby stockyards, processed it, and sold it door-to-door to local clubs and hotels.
He called his venture Standard Meat Company.
Nearly a century later, Standard Meat Company is in its fourth generation of family ownership. Ben Rosenthal is co-president and CEO, and Ashli Rosenthal Blumenfeld is co-president. Billy Rosenthal, their father, is chairman of the board.
In a press release announcing the gift, Billy Rosenthal said he recalls his grandfather giving away money even during Standard Meat’s leanest times, and the pride his father Manny felt when he could start making significant gifts to people and causes he supported.
“I was also taught that giving was just something you did naturally and that it felt good to give of yourself,” Rozanne said.
Her family’s long history of volunteerism and community support led her to what she calls her “life’s work:” founding and leading the Fort Worth affiliate of Susan G. Komen to honor her best friend and UT roommate, Joan Katz, a four-time breast cancer survivor.
“Their gift will be a huge part of a transformation that will help us to stay on the cutting edge of change,” said McCombs Dean Lillian Mills. “So, when people see our work, they can truthfully say, ‘What starts here changes the world.’"