Spring/Summer 2006

Mayhall gift supports vision for School

William (Will) Mayhall `69, MBA `75 has spent a lifetime navigating people through the investment world. Now, 37 years after graduating from Miami, Mayhall has invested in his alma mater. In a show of support for the university’s strategic vision, Mayhall made Miami the beneficiary of a Charitable Remainder Trust he had previously established.

Following his graduation from Miami, Mayhall initially worked as a financial analyst and then moved into investment management operations. In 1989 he co-founded Princeton Financial Systems to provide systems and outsourced operational support to institutional investors. Mayhall sold the company in 1989. Today, he principally works with technology start-up companies.

Over the years, Mayhall was, admittedly, not very involved with Miami as a result of living on the East Coast. But having three siblings and four nieces and nephews attend Miami, Mayhall did return to campus, if sporadically. In recent years, he was impressed by President Jim Garland and the initiatives he proposed to decrease Miami’s dependence on state funding.

Mayhall explained the primary motivation for his gift was seeing the business school begin to take the necessary steps to increase the quality of its program. “I’m convinced these efforts, along with alumni support, will make Miami’s business school one of the best in the world,” he said. “All great schools have endowments that enable them to attract great faculty. So if we want to be the best, those of us who benefited in the past need to step up and show our support.”

A charitable remainder trust (CRT) is an arrangement where a contributor makes a donation to a trust – reserving the right to receive income during his or her lifetime and benefiting a charitable organization at their death or the end of some predetermined period of time. Will Mayhall created a charitable remainder unitrust (CRT) as a way of continuing income from his investments during his lifetime, and benefiting Miami University after his death. Mayhall established the CRT in 1998 with a private foundation as the recipient but recently changed the charitable designation to Miami University with the funds earmarked for the Richard T. Farmer School of Business.

A CRT provides many benefits. It removes an asset (often appreciated securities) from a donor’s estate. But more impactful is that it enables a donor to avoid capital gains tax which would have been paid on a sale of the appreciated asset. In addition, CRT’s qualify for an income tax deduction for the present fair market value of the remainder interest to the charity.

“Any bequest requires faith in the future, but I’m convinced that Roger Jenkins (dean, Richard T. Farmer School of Business) has put the School on a path that will assure excellence for a long time to come,” Mayhall said.

Back to the Giving Tribute Spring/Summer 2006