Rogers Trading Room Receives $150,000 Gift From "Goldman Sachs Gives"

The Smeal College of Business has received a gift of $150,000 from Goldman Sachs Gives, a donor-advised fund, in support of the Rogers Family Trading Room in the Business Building. The donation was made at the recommendation of David Marcinek, a Penn State alumnus and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, and will provide for internship opportunities in the Rogers Trading Room for students with demonstrated financial need.

Gift Recommended By Smeal Alumnus David Marcinek

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (July 27, 2012) -- The Smeal College of Business has received a gift of $150,000 from Goldman Sachs Gives, a donor-advised fund, in support of the Rogers Family Trading Room in the Business Building. The donation was made at the recommendation of David Marcinek, a Penn State alumnus and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, and will provide for internship opportunities in the Rogers Trading Room for students with demonstrated financial need.

The gift is part of the Rogers Trading Room Challenge, which was established by Penn State alumni and longtime benefactors J. David and Patricia Maloney Rogers. David and Patricia Rogers will match gifts made to the Trading Room Endowment dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million, with the goal of adding $2 million to the fund. Income from the Trading Room Endowment is used to support the Rogers Family Trading Room, which was established in 2001 with a $1.1 million gift from David and Patricia Rogers. With the match, the gift from Goldman Sachs Gives marks $300,000 in new support for the Rogers Trading Room.

"Dave Marcinek has been steadfast in his support of Penn State and financial education at Smeal since he graduated in 1993," said Charles H. Whiteman, the John and Becky Surma Dean of Smeal. "His previous contributions and efforts leading to this gift from Goldman Sachs Gives will leave a lasting impression on Penn State, Smeal, and the Rogers Family Trading Room, in particular. We are very grateful for his generosity."

The state-of-the-art Rogers Family Trading Room replicates a real-world trading experience and functions as a financial classroom and a laboratory for undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers. Students in the Trading Room use dataset resources to simulate trading, portfolio management, and other finance-related models. Each of the dual-monitor workstations is equipped with the software needed for virtually any finance-related activity. Real-time stock tickers and data boards offer important financial information. Video conferencing capabilities integrated into the room's infrastructure allow users to connect globally with faculty, students, alumni, subject experts, and corporate partners.

In addition to its role as a classroom and laboratory, the Rogers Family Trading Room is home to the Nittany Lion Fund, a $3.75 million-dollar student-managed stock portfolio. Unlike most student-managed investment funds around the country, which are backed by university endowments, the Nittany Lion Fund relies on investments from individual investors. Since its inception in 2005, more than 110 student fund managers have secured full-time employment at leading investment firms.

Marcinek, a 1993 Smeal finance alumnus, is a Managing Director with Goldman Sachs in New York. He is the recipient of the Smeal Alumni Society Board's 2012 Undergraduate Distinguished Achievement Award and is a member of the steering committee in support of the Rogers Challenge.

“The outstanding education I received at the Smeal College of Business and my overall experience at Penn State were critical to my development both professionally and personally,” said Marcinek. “For today’s students and the college, the Rogers Family Trading Room is a deeply impactful and differentiating educational resource. We hope this gift from Goldman Sachs Gives will help secure the availability of this resource for the future.”

All gifts in support of the Rogers Challenge to the Rogers Challenge count toward the Smeal College of Business goals in the For the Future campaign. This University-wide effort is directed toward a shared vision of Penn State as the most comprehensive, student-centered research university in America. The University is engaging Penn State's alumni and friends as partners in achieving six key objectives: ensuring student access and opportunity, enhancing honors education, enriching the student experience, building faculty strength and capacity, fostering discovery and creativity, and sustaining the University's tradition of quality. The campaign's top priority is keeping a Penn State degree affordable for students and families. The For the Future campaign is the most ambitious effort of its kind in Penn State's history, with the goal of securing $2 billion by 2014. For more information or to give in support of the Rogers Challenge, contact Todd Sloan, Smeal's director of development, at toddsloan@psu.edu

About Goldman Sachs Gives

Goldman Sachs Gives is a donor-advised fund through which Goldman Sachs and its senior employees can recommend grants to qualified non-profit organizations globally. Established in 2007, Goldman Sachs Gives supports charities in communities around the world with a focus on benefiting underserved populations. Its grants support programs that build and stabilize communities, increase educational opportunities, honor service and veterans, and create jobs and economic growth.

REPORTERS & EDITORS: For more information, please contact Victoria Fryer in the Smeal College of Business Media Relations Office at 814-863-3798 or mediarelations@smeal.psu.edu.

Penn State's Smeal College of Business offers highly ranked undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, Ph.D., and executive education opportunities to more than 5,500 students at all levels. Featuring academic departments of accounting, finance, management and organization, marketing, risk management, and supply chain and information systems, the college is also home to major research centers such as the Center for Supply Chain Research, the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Global Business Studies, and the Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change.