University of Illinois alumnus and businessman Larry Gies made a $100 million donation to the Illinois athletic department and will have the Fighting Illini’s football stadium renamed in his family’s honor, the school announced. Gies’ $100 million gift is the largest in Illinois athletics history and is believed to be among the biggest ever given to a college athletic department. It also came less than a month after Kansas received a historic $300 million gift for its football stadium project and athletic programs.
Gies made the donation in memory of his late father, Larry Gies Sr., who served in the United States Army. Illinois’ football stadium, Memorial Stadium, will be known moving forward as Gies Memorial Stadium and will continue to honor soldiers like Gies’ father.
“Sports is how most people first experience the University of Illinois — it’s the front door of the amazing house we are building,” said Gies. “I fully support [athletic director] Josh’s [Whitman] mission and the culture he has built at Illinois Athletics. Illini sports moments bring our Orange & Blue community closer together, and I am so looking forward to the memories we create together in the coming years.”
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Gies, who made his fortune as the founder and CEO of Madison Industries, one of the world’s largest and most successful privately held companies, in 2017 donated $150 million to the school, which renamed its business school to the Gies College of Business.
“This gift is the result of years of thought-provoking conversations and is the continuation of a long-term partnership with Larry that will benefit generations of student-athletes and advance this program to even greater heights,” Whitman said. “I am grateful to Larry for his trust and confidence, and we are excited to honor him, and his veteran father, by placing their family name alongside that of our beloved Memorial Stadium.”
The historic donation comes at a pivotal time for Illinois as it and other athletic departments around the country enter the revenue-sharing era. Never before has spending been so paramount to fielding competitive teams. The Fighting Illini are in position to contend at a high level in football and basketball. Bret Bielema is fresh off one of the five 10-win seasons in football program history and currently has his team ranked No. 9 in the AP Top 25. Additionally, Illinois is the winningest men’s basketball program in the Big Ten over the last six years and the women’s basketball team last season won its first NCAA Tournament game in 25 years.
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