A $4 million gift from alumnus Howard E. Winklevoss ’65 will support Grove City College’s overall mission and the School of Business, which will be named in his honor this fall.
Winkelvoss’ donation is the first Bitcoin gift the College has received. The unrestricted gift will fund innovative business programs and ensure that Grove City College continues to provide an exceptional education to future generations.
“We are deeply grateful to Howard Winklevoss for this extraordinary gift, which will support our School of Business and other programming vital for preparing our students to be leaders of the highest purpose, principle, and proficiency,” College President Paul J. McNulty ’80 said. “It is fitting that we honor and recognize this distinguished alumnus’ achievements in academia, legacy of entrepreneurship, commitment to excellence, and generous support of Grove City College by naming the School of Business in his honor.”
Howard E. Winklevoss ’65
Winklevoss is a renowned academic and business technology entrepreneur. A native of Mercer, Pa., he earned a degree in Accounting and met his wife Carol (Leonard ’65) at Grove City College. Winklevoss is a former professor of Actuarial Science at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the author of several books, including “Pension Mathematics with Numerical Illustrations,” writer of numerous academic articles, and winner of the American Risk and Insurance Association’s Elizur Wright Award for his contribution to the literature of insurance.
After teaching for more than a decade, he entered the private sector, founding multiple ventures, including Winklevoss Consultants, a financial consultant to over 125 major corporations, and Winklevoss Technologies, a company that builds software for the actuarial consulting community to model and administer defined benefit pension plans. Winklevoss Technologies was acquired by Constellation Software for $125 million in 2023.
“Grove City College played a pivotal role in shaping my career and success and has always been a champion of free enterprise and independence,” Winklevoss said. “This gift is a way to give back to an institution that has given me so much. I hope it will inspire future generations of students to pursue excellence and make a positive impact in the world.”
“This donation will have an enormous impact on our students and faculty, enhancing the educational experience, and furthering our distinctive mission as champions of faith and freedom,” McNulty said. “The Winklevoss School of Business will be a center of professional expertise and entrepreneurial innovation.”
Discussing his support of the College, Winklevoss cited a legendary professor and said Bitcoin is the realization of the principles he learned in class.
“I first learned about and became fascinated with sound money at Grove City College while studying under Dr. Hans Sennholz, a free-market, Austrian-School economist and professor who studied under Ludwig von Mises,” he said. “When my twin sons, Cameron and Tyler, introduced me to Bitcoin 12 years ago, I immediately recognized and understood what (Bitcoin inventor) Satoshi Nakamoto had achieved. He had encoded these principles, which had been contemplated for over a century, into digital money. It, therefore, gives me great pleasure to donate the world’s soundest money to the school that first taught me about these concepts 60 years ago.”
The School of Business will be officially named the Winklevoss School of Business during a ceremony in November in the Staley Hall of Arts and Letters. The College established its School of Business in 2022 to create an academic home for the disciplines of Accounting and Finance, Marketing and Management, Entrepreneurship, and Economics and better prepare students for the marketplace.
In recent years, Bitcoin gifts to colleges and universities have become more common, but Winklevoss’ gift is the first to come to Grove City College, according to Jeffrey Prokovich ’89, vice president for Advancement. The $4 million gift is one of the largest Bitcoin donations tied to the naming of a school of business.
“This is a new avenue for alumni and friends to support the College that has great potential to increase awareness of Grove City College’s distinctive position in the world of higher education,” Prokovich said. “Because we value our independence, we accept no federal funding, including student grants and loans. This frees us from unnecessary regulations and political influence but challenges us to seek out private funding from like-minded sources to provide need- and merit-based financial aid, fund research, and enhance the student experience.”
To learn more about supporting “Freedom’s College,” visit gcc.edu/discover.