Dear AU community,

Entrepreneurs and innovators are changemakers. Creating a business or developing a new idea means taking on a challenge in the world to bring positive change—and to disrupt the status quo. This spirit propels AU changemakers every day. It is also a core value of the Change Can’t Wait campaign, which is supporting the pathbreaking work of students, faculty, and staff.

Today, I am pleased to announce another milestone gift from the Veloric family in support of the Kogod School of Business, one which will boost aspiring entrepreneurs in our community and further our momentum.

This gift will have two parts—AU will rename the AU Center for Innovation as the Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship and create the Gary and Nancy Veloric Event Fund to bring memorable concerts and events to our campus.

Entrepreneur and innovator Gary Veloric, Kogod/BSBA ’82, exemplifies an AU changemaker. This is the man who chaired AU’s concert committee, bringing the Police, Jerry Garcia, and the Pretenders to campus!

A visionary business leader who has been involved in or supported more than 100 companies, Gary’s deep commitment to AU is inspiring. He is the longest-serving member of the Kogod Advisory Council, spoke at commencement, and played a key role in the Kogod dean search that brought Dean David Marchick to AU last year. The support from the Veloric family is another impactful development at the Kogod School of Business, which is reaching new heights, including last month’s announcement of the largest gift in the history of the Kogod School of Business from the school’s namesakes, Bob and Arlene Kogod.

Gary’s entrepreneurial instincts were cultivated while a student at AU. His passion for music motivated him to chair the concert committee, and the experience of booking talent and promoting, marketing, and managing events instilled the entrepreneurial spirit that fueled his successful business career.

The Veloric family gift is helping to drive the concluding phase of the $500 million Change Can't Wait campaign. With more than $440 million raised to date, the campaign is transforming our scholarship, learning, and community. The Veloric family gift adds to the strongest year for philanthropic support in the Kogod School of Business’s history and showcases how our community is finding new and exciting ways to support our mission, our students, our research, and our impact.

The Veloric Center, led by director Tommy White, is the fourth center/institute created or named through the Change Can’t Wait campaign. The Veloric family gift will expand experiential learning opportunities, support pitch competitions, and build an enhanced incubator program for students and alumni. Since its launch seven years ago, the Veloric Center has supported dozens of companies and organizations founded by students who saw a need in the market and created ventures to close those gaps —including MEANS Database, 2Gether-International, El Camino Travel, and Celise BioProducts. Kogod and the Veloric Center have brought more than 15 CEOs and founders to our campus this year to engage with students.  

The second part of the Veloric gift will continue Gary’s work as a student and help to create memorable events on campus to build community and bring people together.

Through the Gary and Nancy Veloric Event Fund, AU hosted nearly 3,000 students, faculty, staff, and families at a private concert featuring Flo Rida and Hayes Warner during AU’s recent Family Weekend. Following in Gary’s footsteps, students in Kogod’s Business and Entertainment Program, recently recognized by Billboard as among the top in the country, helped plan, design, and manage this concert.

AU changemakers build on learning and experience to create sustainable opportunities for future impact. The Veloric gift, and the momentum it accelerates for Kogod, symbolizes what becomes possible when innovation and determination come together at AU. Please join me in thanking the entire Veloric family for their support. 

Sincerely,

Sylvia