Purdue gets $42 million from a McDonald's franchise owner to name its business school hall

Purdue University has received a $42 million commitment from alumnus Roland G. Parrish to name the new flagship building of its Mitch Daniels School of Business, the university announced on October 9. The 164,000-square-foot building, scheduled to open in fall 2027, will be called the Roland G. Parrish Hall of Business.

Purdue said the commitment is the largest contribution from an individual for a facility in the university's history.

The donor

Parrish, who was born in Hammond, Indiana, earned a bachelor's degree in industrial management in 1975 and a master's in management in 1976, Purdue said. He attended on athletic and academic scholarships and ran track, earning four varsity letters and two MVP awards, and he was captain of the team in his senior year. He was also active in Purdue's Business Opportunity Program.

After graduation he spent 13 years at Exxon. Rejected at first when he tried to become a McDonald's franchise owner, he opened his first restaurant in Dallas in 1989 and went on to build one of the nation's largest minority-owned McDonald's franchise organizations, according to Purdue.

"Everything I have accomplished professionally began with the foundation I received at Purdue," Parrish said in the release. Later in the same statement he said: "Supporting Purdue has always been deeply personal because I know firsthand the difference this institution can make in a student's life."

A long record of giving

The new gift follows years of involvement. Parrish has served on advisory councils for the libraries, the Daniels School and the Black Cultural Center, and on the John Purdue Club's National Leadership Circle General Committee, Purdue said. His earlier giving includes the Roland G. Parrish Library of Management & Economics, scholarship support, and funding for the Business Opportunity Program's summer session. Purdue gave him the Krannert Business Leadership Award in 2011 and named him an Old Master in 2012.

Interim President Mitch Daniels said in the announcement: "Roland Parrish exemplifies what is possible when talent, determination and a Purdue education come together." Jim Bullard, dean of the Daniels School, said: "This transformational investment will help ensure that future generations of business leaders have access to a world-class learning environment and the opportunities they need to thrive."

What the building will hold

Purdue says the Parrish Hall will be its second-largest classroom building in West Lafayette, behind only the Wilmeth Active Learning Center. It will have flexible space for instruction and conferences, along with labs for financial trading, data visualization, behavioral research and experiential learning, according to Purdue and WOWO.

Reading a naming gift

In our view, a naming gift tells you as much about the history behind it as the amount. Parrish's $42 million follows decades of smaller commitments to students, a library and a summer program, the kind of relationship fundraisers spend years building. Other recent stories show the same pattern of donors returning to the places that shaped them, including Joe Long's lifetime of giving to Texas campuses and stages and Michael Jordan's $10 million gift to UNC's social work school.

The announcement does not say whether the $42 million will be paid over a set period.