Profiles in Giving: UI Tippie College of Business

Larry Hershberger
Iowa City, Iowa

More than once in his life, Larry D. Hershberger (66 BBA) has accepted an offer he just couldn't refuse.

That explains how this Iowa native and former Marine officer became a senior vice president at TIAA-CREF in New York and, more recently, director of the University of Iowa's new Emmett J. Vaughan Institute of Risk Management and Insurance.

It also explains why Hershberger decided to make a similar "offer" to notable University of Iowa faculty by establishing the Hershberger Faculty Fellowship in the Henry B. Tippie College of Business.

"I've been fortunate to have many good opportunities in my life, thanks, in part, to my education at The University of Iowa," says Hershberger. "I felt a responsibility to help create similar opportunities for others."

That's why he recently chose to renew his commitment to the Hershberger Faculty Fellowship -- a fund that provides annual awards to a qualified faculty member in the UI Department of Finance -- through The University of Iowa Foundation. His renewal gift will provide five more years of funding to a fellowship he established three years ago.

"You can have all the students in the world, but without excellent professors in the classroom, little would be accomplished," says Hershberger, a loyal contributor to the UI since 1966. "And with substantial reductions in state funding, more and more support for faculty must come from private sources."

Hershberger's investment in UI faculty -- and his leadership of the new institute -- will help secure a better future for The University of Iowa and the state.

"This goes without saying, but any great institution or endeavor needs support," Hershberger says. "You must be willing to dedicate yourself to worthy causes when you have the opportunity to do so.

"I was fortunate to be able to attend the University and receive my degree, and since that time, I've felt a responsibility to return the favor."

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