Kansas State University

MANHATTAN -- Jeff Gates, New York City, has made a $1 million gift to support the new building for the College of Business Administration at Kansas State University.

The proposed new building plan has 140,000 square feet of space featuring tiered classrooms, a large showcase lecture hall, computer labs, a financial research lab and an executive conference room. The plans include dedicated space for entrepreneurship and sales education, as well as space for study, collaboration and networking throughout the building. The goal is to deliver the brightest future possible for business students, including collaboration with industry and networking opportunities from the start of their college careers.

"It's time to increase the aesthetics and functionality of our business school's physical environment to a level commensurate with the quality of forward-looking leadership and programs," Gates said. "We need to evolve with the way people interact and work together to remain competitive long term. This plan for evolution merits capital allocation by alumni."

Gates received a bachelor's degree in finance from Kansas State University in 1984 and a master's in business administration from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in 1988. Gates is a member of the dean's advisory council for the College of Business Administration, and was named executive of the year by the college's department of finance in 2011. Gates is a trustee of the Kansas State University Foundation and is a member of the foundation's President's Club, a philanthropic leadership organization for friends and alumni of K-State.

Gates is president of Gates Capital Management, a New York City-based event-driven alternative asset manager advising on a family of funds for institutional and private clients globally. He started Gates Capital Management and the ECF Value Funds in 1996 after spending more than 10 years in distressed debt research and sales. The ECF Value Fund is recognized by Bloomberg Markets as a top 25-performing large hedge fund. Gates lives in New York City with his life partner Michael Moran and son Skyler.

"Jeff Gates is one of the CBA's most successful business leaders," said Ali Malekzadeh, Edgerley family dean of the College of Business Administration. "He has been very generous in the past with K-State, and now he has stepped forward one more time to make sure the new building becomes a reality as soon as possible. I am very thankful for his generosity and his friendship."

"Jeff Gates is a tremendously generous and successful alumnus," said Kirk Schulz, president of Kansas State University. "The gift that he has made to the new building for the College of Business Administration will provide important momentum for this initiative. Providing facilities that meet our evolving needs is one of the ways we are working toward our goal to become a Top 50 public research university by 2025."

Philanthropic contributions to K-State are coordinated by the KSU Foundation. The foundation staff works with university partners to build lifelong relationships with alumni, friends, faculty, staff and students through involvement and investment in the university.