A group of University of Wisconsin-Madison alumni has given an unprecedented naming gift of $85 million to the Wisconsin School of Business to preserve the school name.

The donation defies conventional naming gifts where schools adopt the name of a single donor in perpetuity.

The first of its kind ever received by an American business school, the gift ensures the school will not be named for any single person or entity for at least 20 years, but leaves the door open for future naming gifts after the freeze expires.

The $85 million was composed of 13 individual donations of a minimum of $5 million each, made
by members of the Wisconsin Naming Partnership, a group of alumni who banded together to support the school’s mission.

UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley called the gift “a creative act of philanthropy and a major milestone for our university.”