FAU Emeritus Professor of Marketing Donates $2 Million to University

Florida Atlantic University has received an estate gift pledge of more than $2 million from College of Business emeritus professor Eric Shaw ’72, ’73, Ph.D. This generous gift will benefit various athletics, business, arts and letters, and other university programs, and makes Shaw the largest FAU faculty or staff donor in the university’s history, after former assistant professor Dick Schmidt ’71.

“Dr. Eric Shaw has actively mentored and inspired students at FAU for more than 40 years,” said Chris Delisio, vice president for institutional advancement and chief executive officer of the FAU Foundation. “In making this gift, he continues his legacy of caring and inspiration by supporting the excellence of FAU’s students in perpetuity through his planned endowments. We are incredibly grateful for his kind generosity.”

To reward and recognize meritorious FAU student-athletes, as well as other students who demonstrate academic excellence in various fields of research, business, and other areas throughout the university, the gift will fund the creation of the following awards and endowments:

• Eric H. Shaw Student Athlete Excellence in Academic Performance Award
• Eric H. Shaw – FAU Wave Excellence in Innovation Award
• Eric H. Shaw 3MT® Championship Award Endowment Fund
• Hersker, Shaw, Gosser Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi Scholarship Award
• Eric H. Shaw OURI Symposium Excellence Award
• Eric H. Shaw Concerto and Aria Excellence in Performance Award
• Eric H. Shaw Veterans Florida Entrepreneurial Excellence Award
• Eric H. Shaw Ph.D. in Business Dissertation Award

“My 50 years at Florida Atlantic University, first as an undergraduate student and now as emeritus professor, make me feel like I’ve grown up with the university,” said Shaw. “I am forever grateful to FAU for providing me an excellent education, providing terrific mentors and talented colleagues to work with, exceptional students with bright eager minds to share knowledge, and offering me so many opportunities for personal and professional growth. It is a privilege and my great pleasure to give back by making a small contribution to this great university in its ‘race to excellence.’”

An alumnus of FAU, Shaw received his B.B.A. in 1972 and M.B.A. in 1973, and then was invited to join the FAU faculty as an instructor of marketing. Shaw earned his Ph.D. at Temple University and has taught on the faculties of Rutgers University and the University of Miami. After returning to FAU in 1982, he served as associate dean of the College of Business, acting director of the School of Industry Studies and as the chairman of the marketing department for 15 years. Shaw also served five years as the faculty athletics representative to the NCAA. He is a past president of the faculty senate, and a former board member of the FAU Alumni Association, as well as the FAU Foundation Board and FAU’s Board of Trustees.

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