Learning doesn’t end when students graduate from the University of San Diego’s School of Business Administration.

A $100,000 gift from Lowell McAdam, president and chief operating officer of Verizon Communications Inc., and his wife, Susan, will help keep graduates connected to the latest in cutting-edge business practices and research. Through the Lowell and Susan McAdam SBA Alumni Lifelong Learning program, alumni have an opportunity to network and interact with distinguished USD faculty at events around the country.

“Lowell is a true leader in his industry and we’re excited he and Susan have chosen to make this generous gift to USD to provide high-quality business education opportunities for our alumni,” said David Pyke, PhD, dean of the School of Business Administration. “This is just one more way a USD business degree will continue to pay dividends in the years following graduation.”

The school’s first event took place in San Francisco last October, subsequent events have taken place in San Jose and New York City. At the debut event, Ryan Ratcliff, assistant professor of economics, talked about the outlook for the economy and what it will take for the job and housing markets to fully recover.

The event “was a great success,” said Patrick Brady ‘07, president of USD’s San Francisco alumni chapter. “It was very interesting and certainly captivated the audience.” Ratcliff specifically tailored his presentation to the Bay Area’s economy and stayed afterward to answer individual questions from alumni.

McAdamwas promoted to COO after serving as president and CEO of Verizon Wireless. He earned his MBA from USD in 1983 while serving in the Navy and said he continues to use skills he learned. During a capstone course, a professor taught students to “hold up a problem like a diamond and look at it from different perspectives. I use this technique at Verizon where we look at problems and turn them into opportunities. I picked up more tools getting my MBA at USD than I did anywhere else along the way.”

The McAdams are passionate about education and giving back to the community. “We know graduates will continue to benefit from these opportunities to learn from USD’s excellent professors about the challenges and opportunities in today’s business world.”

— Liz Harman

For more information about Lifelong Learning programs, click here.

Photo courtesy of Reuters.

"We’re excited Lowell and Susan have chosen to make this generous gift to USD to provide high-quality business education opportunities for our alumni." - David Pyke, dean, School of Business Administration