Robert Wann Jr. has many titles: vice president, chief financial officer, and board member. Add philanthropist and college senior to the mix, and that about covers it.
Mr. Wann, a student at the State University of New York at Albany, is in the unusual position of running his family’s philanthropic foundation at the age of 21.
He is the son of Chinese immigrants who came to New York City in the 1970s with just enough money for one year of college. Working their way through the rest of their education, and having their son in the meantime, they both earned M.B.A.'s. Today Mr. Wann’s father is the chief operating officer of a Long Island bank.
As Mr. Wann neared graduation, with a business degree and a slew of acceptances to law schools, he decided the Wann Family Foundation’s gift this year would go to the State University of New York at Albany. The donation of $42,000 will endow two scholarships -- one for a business major with concentrations in finance and marketing, the other for an East Asian-studies major. Mr. Wann stipulated that the awards be based on merit, and that applicants have professors’ recommendations.
“The purpose of our foundation is to give back to the community, because this country has treated my parents well,” Mr. Wann says. “I came to the University of Albany because they offered me a presidential scholarship. I made a lot of friends with the faculty and respect the teaching that they do, so now is the appropriate time to give back.”
Presidential scholars at the university receive full-tuition scholarships.
Retired Vice Adm. John R. Ryan, Albany’s interim president, says he believes Mr. Wann is part of a growing trend of young people interested in philanthropy, something he said he also witnessed during a capital campaign at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he was superintendent.
“Robert had choices of where to give that money, but he chose us because he’s been very happy here and inspired by his professors,” Mr. Ryan said. “What I think makes him special is his concern for the students coming behind him, and wanting to be a part of something bigger than himself.”
The Wann Family Foundation gift will be included in the university’s $500-million campaign slated to end in June 2008.
http://chronicle.com Section: Money & Management Volume 50, Issue 38, Page A27