A former Spartan basketball player turned business executive is leading a partnership of his company with the Eli Broad College of Business to enhance sales research and education.
Troy-based mortgage lender United Shore and Mat Ishbia, the firm’s president and CEO, will create a new faculty fellow position within the Department of Marketing through a gift of $500,000.
The gift will allow the department to provide support for a faculty member – even at the assistant professor level – who has exhibited leadership in sales research and teaching.
“Talent and workforce development are major issues that Michigan companies are facing,” said Ishbia, a 2003 graduate of the Broad College. “At United Shore, we have a huge passion for the quality of programs and curriculum at Michigan State University and are committed to investing in their efforts.”
Ishbia was a member of MSU’s 2000 national championship men’s basketball team and a student assistant coach under Tom Izzo. Following graduation, he joined United Shore and gained experience in each area of the company as he climbed to the position of president and CEO.
Today, the company has about 1,200 employees, has grown into a national award-winning workplace and is home to the nation’s top wholesale lender, UWM. United Shore’s focus on attracting and developing the top sales talent played a significant role in the company’s investment in the resources and bright minds at MSU.
“The United Shore faculty fellow gift demonstrates confidence in the Broad College and our ability to graduate strategic thinkers who have business acumen and can make an impact on the business world from day one,” said Sanjay Gupta, Eli and Edythe L. Broad dean of the Broad College. “This gift helps us in our commitment to develop transformational thinkers and doers who make business happen.”
For more information on making a gift to the Eli Broad College of Business, contact Vivian Leung, senior director of development, at leungv@msu.edu or by calling (517) 355-8504.
Reprinted with permission from Developments magazine