Jaffe Inspires $500,000 Gift To Former University
Austin Jaffe, who departed the University of Oregon 25 years ago to join the faculty of Penn State's Smeal College of Business, left an indelible impression on his students before leaving. So indelible, in fact, that two of his former students recently contributed $500,000 to Oregon in honor of Jaffe's excellence as a teacher.
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (May 23, 2005)—Austin Jaffe, who departed the University of Oregon 25 years ago to join the faculty of Penn State's Smeal College of Business, left an indelible impression on his students before leaving. So indelible, in fact, that two of his former students recently contributed $500,000 to Oregon in honor of Jaffe's excellence as a teacher.
Peter Powell and Molly Leahy Powell met in a study group that gathered to prepare for the exams in Jaffe's Oregon finance class. The couple later married and built successful careers in real estate and investment banking. When the Powells began thinking about making a major gift to their alma mater, they elected to direct half of the $1 million to recruit and retain professors like Jaffe.
"He didn't want you to just learn and regurgitate—he wanted you to know how and why things work," said Peter Powell. "You hate to see professors of that caliber getting hired away."
Jaffe is now the Philip H. Sieg Professor of Business Administration at Smeal. He's also the director of International Programs at the college and the director for Real Estate Studies. With research and teaching interests in the areas of real estate financial analysis, the economics of property rights, the economics effects of legal institutions, and the conceptual basis of property, Jaffe has also held faculty appointments at several international universities.
