The University announced Tuesday that a University trustee and his wife donated $10 million to endow the UChicago Careers in Business Program, which will be renamed to the Trott Business Program. 

Byron D. Trott (A.B. ’81, M.B.A. ’82) serves as the founder, chairman and, CEO of the merchant bank, BDT & Company. A *Fortune* magazine profile published in 2014 called him the “billionaires’ banker” and noted that Warren Buffet and Walmart chairman and heir Rob Walton bank with him. He is married to Tina Trott.  

The donation will be used to support and expand the Trott Business Program, which they helped launch in 2006 along with other donors as UChicago Careers in Business (UCIB). 

The Trott Business Program is a selective three-year program that aims to provide College students with skills essential for careers in business. Drawing from its partnership with the Booth School of Business, the program offers workshops, professional advising, and the opportunity to take courses at Booth. 

“This program helps students connect the distinctive and rigorous education they have in the College with their future life. It has dramatically enhanced students’ opportunities after graduation. We are extremely grateful to Byron and Tina for providing this long-term support,” said President Robert J. Zimmer in a news release. 

The College hosted a reception in Ida Noyes on Tuesday for current College students and alumni involved in the program to honor the Trotts’ generosity. 

Trott also supported the establishment of the Metcalf Internship Program twenty years ago, and one of the new houses in Campus North is named in his honor. Trott is a director at the environmental advocacy non-profit Conservation International and on the board at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Trotts raised money and donated to Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign.