William Polk Carey (May 11, 1930 – January 2, 2012) was an American philanthropist and businessman. He was the founder of
W. P. Carey & Co., a corporate real estate financing firm headquartered in New York City, and donated the funds to establish the
Carey Business School at
Johns Hopkins University, the
University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and the
W. P. Carey School of Business
The W. P. Carey School of Business is the business school of Arizona State University and is one of the largest business schools in the United States, with over 300 faculty, and more than 1,582 graduate and 15,077 undergraduate students (2019-2 ...
at
Arizona State University
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
.
Early life, career, and family
As a young man, Carey attended elementary school a
Calvert Schooland left Roland Park's
Gilman School
Gilman School is an all-boys independent school located in the Roland Park neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. There are three school divisions: Lower School, grades pre-kindergarten through five; Middle School, grades six through eight; and Upp ...
to go to the
Pomfret School in
Connecticut, then attended
Princeton University. He left Princeton for supposedly missing chapel and attended the
University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1953, before establishing himself in New Jersey working in his step-father's car dealership. Carey resided in New York City and
Rensselaerville, New York
Rensselaerville () is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. The population was 1,826 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Stephen Van Rensselaer.
History
Rensselaerville was once part of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck; as such ...
. Carey was an alumnus of the
Delta Phi fraternity and was an active member in the University of Pennsylvania chapter. He was an active member of the
University Club in NYC. He was also Governor-General of the
Society of Mayflower Descendants
The General Society of ''Mayflower'' Descendants — commonly called the Mayflower Society — is a hereditary organization of individuals who have documented their descent from at least one of the 102 passengers who arrived on the ''Mayflower'' ...
in New York State.
Philanthropy and legacy
Carey Hall at The Gilman School
In the mid-1990s, the
Gilman School
Gilman School is an all-boys independent school located in the Roland Park neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. There are three school divisions: Lower School, grades pre-kindergarten through five; Middle School, grades six through eight; and Upp ...
started discussing much-needed renovations of Carey Hall, the school's main building which houses the Upper School students. Carey Hall, named after Carey's grandmother, was constructed in 1910 and remained the same until late 2006. Carey donated 10 million dollars to the school's capital campaign fund, a sum that was one fifth of the total amount of money raised for the renovation of Carey Hall. On December 10, 2007, Carey Hall was officially re-opened as Carey cut the ribbon signaling the start of a new generation in a new, updated Carey Hall.
Arizona State University W. P. Carey School of Business
Carey was benefactor to the
Arizona State University
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
College of Business. In 2002, Carey donated $50 million to the College of Business. In recognition of his gift, the University renamed its business school the
W. P. Carey School of Business
The W. P. Carey School of Business is the business school of Arizona State University and is one of the largest business schools in the United States, with over 300 faculty, and more than 1,582 graduate and 15,077 undergraduate students (2019-2 ...
.
The Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School
Carey announced December 5, 2006, his donation of $50 million to
Johns Hopkins University.
He was a trustee emeritus at Hopkins and donated the money through his W.P. Carey Foundation. The gift was the largest to Hopkins in support of business education and is now called the
Carey Business School. The Hopkins business school will be named after William Carey's great-great-great-grandfather, James Carey.
[Johns Hopkins Launches New Schools of Business, Education](_blank)
/ref> The school offers full- and part-time MBA programs, as well as specialized master's degree programs in finance, marketing, information systems, health care management, and enterprise risk management. The school's Master of Science in Real Estate Graduate real estate education is the study of real estate development at the graduate school level. It has taken many forms, giving rise to various educational models in different countries.
The decision for individuals pursuing higher education ...
program was one of the first in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. corridor.
University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
On April 25, 2011, Carey announced his donation of $30 million to The University of Maryland School of Law.[University of Maryland](_blank)
/ref> The emphasis of the gift was to increase the school's endowment. The school is being named after Carey's grandfather, Francis King Carey, who was a graduate of the Law School (Class of 1880).
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
In 2019, The W. P. Carey Foundation donated $125 million to the University of Pennsylvania Law School, setting a new record as the largest gift to a law school. In recognition of the Foundation and its long-term involvement with Penn, the Penn Board of Trustees approved a resolution designating that the school would be named the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School as of November 8, 2019. The name change, which the Carey Foundation and the University of Pennsylvania Law School had intended to take place simultaneously with the announcement of the gift, proved unpopular with students and alumni, thousands of whom quickly signed an online petition protesting the Foundation's decision to replace "Penn Law" with "Carey Law" as the law school's new "short form" name; in response to the backlash, the Law School and Foundation agreed to delay the full name-change to "Penn Carey Law" until the beginning of the 2022 Fall Term.
References
External links
*
W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carey, William P.
1930 births
2012 deaths
Businesspeople from Baltimore
Princeton University alumni
University of Pennsylvania alumni
Arizona State University alumni
Johns Hopkins University people
American real estate businesspeople
Philanthropists from New York (state)
People from Rensselaerville, New York
Pomfret School alumni
Gilman School alumni
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American philanthropists