Amy Altman, Executive Vice President, Clinical Affairs and Diagnostics at Safe Health and President of the John W. Altman Charitable Foundation, has made a million-dollar gift to the John W. Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship. Amy holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in microbiology from Miami University and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from Vanderbilt University. She has served on the Entrepreneurship advisory board since 2016.

Amy commented, “I am honored to give this gift to the Institute for Entrepreneurship, named for my uncle, with whom I share both love for Miami and the spirit of philanthropy. Miami’s focus on entrepreneurship in education is crucial in fostering the growth of innovators and leaders.”

This gift will be matched dollar for dollar by the Farmer Family Foundation via their matching gift support of the Farmer School of Business. The gift will provide critical support for the Institute in terms of curricular and co-curricular programming.  Highlights from the program include the annual Startup Weekend and RedHawk Venture Pitch Competition.

Tim Holcomb, chair of the department of entrepreneurship, said, “We are excited to receive this significant financial gift from Amy. She has been a strong and consistent force behind the success and growth of our Entrepreneurship program at Miami for the better part of the past decade, and this new gift will allow us to continue to expand the impact and reach of our entrepreneurship program across campus."

The entrepreneurship program is ranked No. 7 in the world and recently received the prestigious 2024 Model Program Award from USASBE (United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship). The USASBE Model Program Award is awarded annually to the top entrepreneurship program (graduate and/or undergraduate) in the world and recognizes a university entrepreneurship program that provides "comprehensive, bold, high quality educational programs that train future generations of entrepreneurs." USABE award. 

This spring the Institute launched a new program called the RedHawk50 which will recognize the 50 fastest growing Miami founded or lead private companies.

Jenny Darroch, Dean and Mitchell P. Rales Chair in Business Leadership said, “The impact of this magnificent gift will extend to every facet of the entrepreneurship program, benefitting students university-wide. I could not be more grateful for Amy’s ongoing support of the Farmer School of Business.”