$5 Million Gift Launches New Insurance Center at Carl H. Lindner College of Business

The University of Cincinnati is proud to announce the establishment of the Carl H. Lindner III Center for Insurance and Risk Management at the Lindner College of Business beginning in Winter 2012. The program is the first of its kind in the Ohio to combine academic programs, research, and executive-level industry education and outreach.

The new program is made possible by a $5 million combined endowment: $4 million from Carl H. Lindner III and his wife Martha through The Psalms Foundation, along with $1 million support from Great American Insurance Group.  The Carl H. Lindner III Center will create valuable industry-academic partnerships, seeking to attract, retain and enable professional development in the Insurance industry.

“The goal of the Carl H. Lindner III Center is to be one of the preeminent sources for thought leadership, professional practice and talent for the insurance industry,” said Lindner College of Business Dean David Szymanski. “While it will add even more depth to the talented pool of young professionals feeding into Cincinnati’s flourishing insurance industry, the Center’s reach will also extend to and benefit industry partners throughout Ohio and beyond.”

The program’s curricula will be shaped by an interdisciplinary team of Lindner College of Business faculty and industry advisors.  It will offer an undergraduate major and minor and eventually graduate and certificate programs, a student organization, mentoring program and industry roundtables.  Co-ops, internships and student projects will provide experience-based learning for students participating in the program. An industry advisory board will also be established to enable involvement from a broad cross-section of industry leaders and companies. 

“The University of Cincinnati continues to find innovative ways to integrate the academic experience with professional practice,” said UC President Gregory H. Williams.  “We are grateful for Carl and Martha Lindner’s generosity in bringing this vision to reality. We are eager to offer a program that will enhance opportunities for our students and further strengthen an industry that generates highly-skilled jobs and economic development here in Cincinnati and beyond.”

Differentiating the new program will be the ability to leverage the strengths of the University of Cincinnati in interdisciplinary, innovative and experiential learning.  The Carl H. Lindner III Center’s core faculty expertise will be enhanced by collaborations with colleagues in the Lindner College of Business’ Centers for Entrepreneurship, Professional Selling, Business Analytics, and the Goering Center for Family and Private Business. 

“I am very pleased to play a leading role in establishing the Carl H. Lindner III Center for Insurance and Risk Management,” said Carl Lindner III, Co-CEO, American Financial Group, Inc. “I have worked in this industry for my entire life, and I have been blessed by God for both tremendous opportunity and success.  It gives me great pleasure to give back to my alma mater, my industry, and to help educate, empower and inspire insurance industry leaders of the future.  I look forward to collaborating with Lindner College of Business faculty and students to enhance and expand the work and influence of the Center for our industry, city, state and nation.”

The Lindners’ gift, made in honor and memory of Carl H. Lindner, Jr., qualifies them and Great American Insurance Group as lead donors in the Friends of Carl H. Lindner Society. The gift will be included in UC’s $1 billion Proudly Cincinnati campaign, which has raised more than $853 million in private support for the university.