Queally Hall immerses students in a more corporate environment and gives them greater opportunities for experiential learning. Banks of flatscreen televisions broadcast financial news to keep students abreast of world markets. The Lessing Trading Floor—funded by Trustee Emeritus Stephen Lessing and his wife, Sandra—simulates a Wall Street trading floor, giving financial students hands-on experience with the same Bloomberg terminals they will use in their careers. Marketing students and faculty can glean information by conducting focus groups in a new market research lab, complete with a two-way mirror. The addition also includes seven group-study rooms, where student teams can work on projects and practice for class presentations. And throughout the building, video-conferencing capabilities, conference rooms, and informal gathering spaces encourage greater collaboration among students and professors. The facility is clearly animated by ideas and innovation in teaching and learning, and curricular enhancements were introduced in tandem with construction. For example, the school implemented three new elective finance courses, which have proved very popular. The building’s signature architectural feature is a grand round tower named in honor of former Robins School Dean David Robbins and funded by Alice and Bob Jepson, B’64, gB’75, and H’87. Thanks in part to a donation from Susan and Richard Harrison, B’84, Queally Hall has been built to the standards of the U.S. green Building Council. While the addition blends seamlessly with the existing architecture of the Robins School building, it brings several new amenities to the business school. In addition to 31 faculty offices and eight new classrooms, the addition features the Ukrop Auditorium, a 225-seat
facility funded by Jane and Bobby Ukrop, B’69, and Chris and Nancy Jo Kantner, ’99. The addition also provides space for Lou’s Café, an inviting venue for informal business lunches named in honor of Louis Moelchert Jr., who served as the University’s vice president for business and finance from 1975 to 1997 and as Spider Management’s vice president for investments and president from 1997 to 2005. The Queallys are long-time benefactors of the University. They have supported several major
the couple’s three children. Their oldest son, Brian Queally, is a sophomore at Richmond who plans to major in business administration with a concentration in finance. Anne-Marie is thrilled that their son, and all other current and future students, will benefit from their gift. “The business school’s programs give students some concrete tools and strong business experience they would not gain otherwise,” she says. “Adding on to the business school and making room for great new programs that will touch so many future generations of students is such a great feeling.”
The wow facTor
Anne-Marie Flinn Queally, W’86, and Paul Queally, R’86.
projects and programs including the gottwald Center for the Sciences, athletics, and an endowed faculty chair. Both Queallys majored in economics at Richmond, though neither was enrolled in the Robins School. Paul also majored in speech communications and competed on the debate team. Anne-Marie additionally majored in French, was a Spider cheerleader, and competed on the synchronized swimming team. Today, Paul is co-president of the investment firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, which he joined in 1996 as general partner. Anne-Marie worked as a marketing representative for IBM and as a budget and financial analyst for Morgan guaranty Trust before leaving the corporate world to be at home with
Paul enters Queally Hall’s signature tower and steps into the atrium, which is flooded with natural light from a soaring gothic window. “This building has a certain wow factor,” he says, “but the real wow factor is when you sit in the classroom. The building is great, but what happens in the building is what really makes a difference.” The Robins School is known for its small classes and for tough professors who care deeply about their students’ success. That’s one of the many reasons Dr. Nancy Bagranoff, the new dean, was attracted to the school. “I like the size, I like the liberal arts emphasis, and I like what I refer to as the ‘personalized education’ students receive here,” she says. “The faculty and students really are in a learning partnership. great teachers want to be here, and so they are.” This is one of the strengths that has propelled the Robins School to national acclaim. BusinessWeek, for example, rated the school No. 15 nationally among undergraduate business programs in 2010. Among other strengths, the rankings reflect student satisfaction, Bagranoff says, and that satisfaction translates into high demand. Business administration is
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