Charlie Munger (MDNG), Vice Chairman of
Berkshire Hathaway; donated in excess of $25 million for library and
Lawyers Club renovations and $110 million for graduate housing and graduate fellowships
A. Alfred Taubman (MDNG: HLLD 1948), founder of the
Taubman Company; his cumulative lifetime donations total roughly $141 million, making him the second largest donor in Michigan's history
Ralph Wilson (LAW: ) was as an American businessman and sports executive. He was best known as the founder and owner of the Buffalo Bills, a team in the National Football League (NFL).
Samuel Zell (LAW: AB 1963, JD 1966), real estate developer; founder of
EQ Office; former chairman of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts
James John (J.J.) Hagerman (1857, industrialist who owned mines, railroads and corporate farms in the American West in the late 19th century and early 20th century; one of the most influential men in territorial
New Mexico
Gerrard Wendell "(G.W.)" Haworth (COE: MA), founding chairman of
Haworth, Inc., a manufacturer of office environments that grew from a garage-shop venture in 1948 to a $1.4 billion global corporation
Andrew Heiberger, founder, owner, and CEO of Buttonwood Development and Town Residential
Elle Kaplan (BA), founder and CEO of LexION Capital Management
Gregg Kaplan (AB), president and chief operating officer of change-sorting company
Coinstar, which now owns
Redbox
Brad Keywell (BUS: BBA 1991; LAW: JD 1993), serial entrepreneur
Benjamin D. Pritchard (LAW: JD),
American Civil War general who captured Jefferson Davis;
State Treasurer of Michigan (1880-1884); organizer and first president (1870–1905) of the First National Bank of Allegan; founded the
First State Bank, which was the first bank in the county to be designated as a state depository, the first savings bank, and the first bank to install safety deposit boxes
Charles Rudolph Walgreen Jr. (PHC 1928, HMS 1951, HLHD 1992), son of the founder of
Walgreens drugstores; took over the company presidency in 1939 at age 33; steered the company through World War II and the post-war boom; in 2005, in acknowledgment of his $10 million donation, the university named its new facility the Charles R. Walgreen Jr. Drama Center
Gary Wiren (MSc), founder of Golf Around the World and inventor of the Impact Bag
C. Robert Kidder (COE: BS IE 1967), CEO of
Borden Chemical 1995–2002; Principal, Stonehenge Partners, Inc., since 2004; appointed chairman of the restructured
Chrysler Group LLC in 2009; former lead director of
Morgan Stanley; ran 3Stone Advisors, a Columbus, Ohio, investment firm focusing on
clean technology start-ups
Louis Carlyle Walker (BA 1896), industrialist, philanthropist, political figure; co-founded the
Shaw-Walker Company in 1899 and became sole owner in 1902; important figure in history of
Muskegon, Michigan[2] benefactor and namesake of the
L. C. Walker Arena
Scott Seligman, real estate developer, the founder of the Sterling Bank and Trust, and minority owner of the San Francisco Giants major league baseball team