ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A family whose association with Muhlenberg College has stretched for 85 years has made a $1 million gift to the school to establish a business professorship.
In addition, the gift will be matched by $1 million more from a previous benefactor's estate, the college announced Friday.
“Accounting, business, economics, and finance are areas of immense student interest and growth. Studying these disciplines within the context of the liberal arts leads to powerful outcomes for our graduates. I am so grateful to the Breidenthall family for their support.”Muhlenberg President Kathleen Harring, in a release
The gift from the Breidenthall family will let Muhlenberg establish the William R. Breidenthall Ph.B., CPA Class of 1941 Professorship in Accounting, Business, Economics or Finance.
The Breidenthall family gift will be matched by $1 million from the estate of Edward ’42 and Lois Robertson to sustain faculty in accounting, business, economics or finance in perpetuity, the college said.
The Robertson estate donation established the Faculty Excellence Matching Challenge.
Establishing endowed professorships is among the seven key priorities of Boundless: The Campaign for Muhlenberg, which began its public phase in 2021 and will end June 30.
“Accounting, business, economics, and finance are areas of immense student interest and growth,” Muhlenberg President Kathleen Harring said in a release.
“Studying these disciplines within the context of the liberal arts leads to powerful outcomes for our graduates. I am so grateful to the Breidenthall family for their support.”
School, family long relationship
The inaugural William R. Breidenthall '41 Professor in Economics will be Ranajoy Ray-Chaudhuri.
Ray-Chaudhuri joined Muhlenberg in 2015 and now is an associate professor of economics and director of the Muhlenberg Scholars honors program.
"The family is extremely pleased to make this gift in support of retaining and rewarding the best and brightest faculty members and is excited to remain involved in the pursuit of the best possible business-based education at Muhlenberg."Muhlenberg College news release
He received the college’s Bridge Builder Award in 2017, 2019 and 2022, and has written two books, "Central Bank Independence, Regulations, and Monetary Policy: From Germany and Greece to China and the U.S." and "The Changing Face of American Banking: Deregulation, Reregulation, and the Global Financial System.”
He received a doctorate in economics at Ohio State University.
The Breidenthall family has a long relationship with Muhlenberg College beginning with William R. Breidenthall, who graduated from Muhlenberg in the Class of 1941.
"The family is extremely pleased to make this gift in support of retaining and rewarding the best and brightest faculty members and is excited to remain involved in the pursuit of the best possible business-based education at Muhlenberg," the college said in a release.
The Faculty Excellence Matching Challenge was established to support the Boundless campaign goal of endowing 10 new professorships.
Each $1 million gift toward a professorship is matched with $1 million from the estate.
Two endowed professorships, the Lentz Professorships in Theatre and Dance, were announced prior to the challenge in 2023.
