The Wisconsin School of Business (WSB) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has received a five-year, $900,000 commitment from The Kemper Foundation to champion diversity and inclusion efforts within the school.
The donation will fund the Kemper Scholars Program, a new scholarship program for WSB students from underrepresented populations working towards their undergraduate degrees. The program, which began in the fall of 2021, awards $5,000 scholarships to each of 15 juniors and 15 seniors studying risk management and insurance, actuarial science, finance, or accounting and information systems who meet the following requirements:
- Considered to be a member of an underrepresented group or population as defined by WSB
- U.S. citizen or permanent resident
- Has junior or senior standing at the Wisconsin School of Business
- A minimum 3.0 GPA
- Demonstrates a financial need
The scholarship is renewable for juniors who continue to meet the criteria during their senior year. The scholarships that will be awarded via the Kemper Scholars Program are the result of a collaboration between WSB, the Wisconsin Foundation & Alumni Association (WFAA), the UW-Madison Office of Business Engagement (OBE), and The Kemper Foundation.
“The Wisconsin School of Business is dedicated to embedding the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion into the DNA of our community,” says Dean Vallabh “Samba” Sambamurthy, WSB’s Albert O. Nicholas Dean. “I am grateful to The Kemper Foundation for the significant commitment it has made to our school and am confident that we will achieve great progress on our DEI journey through this support.”
The donation will also support the new Kemper Foundation Multicultural Directorship position for the WSB Multicultural Center in the amount of $50,000 per year, over the next three years. Arturo “Tito” Diaz, who was recently named Kemper Foundation Multicultural Director, will oversee programming, promotion and student engagement opportunities within the Multicultural Center, and will work with the annual cohort of Kemper Scholars to foster community building and networking during the academic year.
“I am excited about the many opportunities that lie ahead with our new Multicultural Center and the students it will serve,” says Diaz. “As one of the few business schools to have a dedicated multicultural center, we are well positioned to foster business students who value diversity and will enter the workforce as inclusive, trusted leaders.”
UW–Madison is one of 10 schools awarded funding by The Kemper Foundation.