Albert O. "Ab" Nicholas (January 24, 1931 – August 4, 2016) was the chairman, CEO, and portfolio manager of Nicholas Company, Inc. founded in 1967
/ref> and based in Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
. In April 2010, he was one of four inducted into the Wisconsin Business Hall of Fame. According to Bloomberg Markets
''Bloomberg Markets'' is a magazine published six times a year by Bloomberg L.P. as part of Bloomberg News. Aimed at global financial professionals, ''Bloomberg Markets'' publishes articles on the people and issues related to global financial ma ...
in 2015, "The Nicholas Fund, which he has run since 1969, has topped the Standard & Poor's 500 Index by an average of 2 percentage points a year for the past 40 years and eatit every year since 2008 hrough 2014
Education
Born on January 24, 1931, in Rockford, Illinois, Nicholas earned a Bachelor's in Economics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
and played guard for the Badgers men's basketball team. He spent two years in the military prior to returning for an M.B.A. in Finance and Investments.
Early career
Nicholas began his career at the Northwestern National Insurance Company, where he worked as an investment analyst. He moved on to Marshall and Ilsley Bank before co-founding Nicholas Company.
Affiliations
He was a member of the Milwaukee Investment Analysts Society, and a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Charitable work
In March 2015, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee announced "that it has received a $2 million donation from longtime donor and trustee Albert "Ab" Nicholas to fund and develop a recreational basketball league within its clubs." Together with his brothers, William and Daniel, he donated $2,150,000 in 2006 toward a conservatory project in his hometown, Rockford, Ill. The project is now named the Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens, in honor of their parents, William and Ruby Nicholas.
He also made significant contributions to the Milwaukee War Memorial Center as well as the University of Wisconsin. The donation of $50 million was made "to inspire other donors to create undergraduate and athletic scholarships and graduate fellowships for UW-Madison students. The gift will match, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, other donations made to support scholarship programs. The UW Foundation describes the Nicholas' donation as'the second-largest household gift in the university's history.'", Another contribution to the school endowed a deanship for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Business School which had previously been paid with university funds.
Nicholas died on August 4, 2016, at the age of 85. On January 12, 2017, the UW athletic department announced that the Kohl Center
The Kohl Center is an arena and athletic center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, United States. The building, which opened in 1998, is the home of the university's men's basketball and ice hockey teams, and the women's basketball team. ...
basketball floor would be renamed the "Ab Nicholas Court" in his honor with the start of the 2017–18 season.
References
External links
Money manager Ab Nicholas launching $50 million scholarship program
for details on Basketball scholarship
Sometimes confused with the securities finance firm A. B. Nicholas, though the two are completely separate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas, Albert
1931 births
2016 deaths
All-American college men's basketball players
American chief executives of financial services companies
Philanthropists from Illinois
Milwaukee Hawks draft picks
People from Rockford, Illinois
Wisconsin School of Business alumni
Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball players
American men's basketball players
CFA charterholders
20th-century American philanthropists